
(ilass 
Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 





A . V- 



- \^ 



THIRTY YEARS 

I'M x'^. '^ 



OF 



ARMY LIFE ON THE BORDER. 



COMPRISING 

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE INDIAN NOMADS OF THE PLAINS; 

EXPLORATIONS OF NEW TERRITORY; 

A TRIP ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS IN THE WINTER; 

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE HABITS OF DIFFERENT ANIMALS FOUND IN THE 
WEST, AND THE METHODS OF HUNTING THEM ; 

WITH INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF DIFFERENT FRONTIER MEN, 

&o., &o. 



BY COLONEL R. b/mAECT, U. S. A., 

ADTHOR OF "THE PKAIKIE TRAVELEK." 



JEJ^ftj) "Numerous Jtllustrations, 



NEW YORK: 

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 

KRANKLI.N SQUARE. 

1866. 



///-^ /^ ^, /;a 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one tliousand eight 
hundred and sixty-six, by 

HARPER & BROTHERS, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of 

Now York. 



31/^ £j 



4 




-^>'.' 



INTRODUCTORY. 



In this age of many books, it is hardly possible that any 
new publication can need an apology or an explanation. I 
have been persuaded by many friends that the contents of 
the book which is herewith presented to the public are not 
without value as records of a fast vanishing age, and as 
truthful sketches of men of various races, whose memory 
will shortly depend only on romance, unless some one who 
knew them shall undertake to leave outlines of their pecul- 
iar characteristics. 

More than thirty years of service in the United States 
Army, a large portion of the time on the frontiers, on the 
prairies, or among the far Western mountains, have given 
me some experience in the life of the frontiersman, as well 
as made me the frequent companion of the hardy trappers, 
the pioneers, the advance-guards of civilization, while it has 
been necessary for me to meet on either friendly or hostile 
terms nearly all the aboriginal tribes of the prairies. 

If any excuse were needed for the publication of sketches 
somewhat desultory and disconnected as these will prove, 
I am persuaded that excuse may be found in ihe simple 
fact that all these subjects of my descriptid^ — men, condi- 
tions of life, races of aboriginal inhabitants, and adventur- 
ous hunters and pioneers^are passing away. A few years 
more, and the prairie will be transformed into farms, the 



X INTKODUCTORY. 

mountain ravines will be the abodes of busy manufactur- 
ers, the aboriginal races will have utterly disappeared, and 
the gigantic power of American civilization will have taken 
possession of the land from the great river of the West to 
the very shores of the Pacific. It can not be entirely in 
vain that any one contributes that which he knows from 
personal experience, however little, to aid in preserving the 
memory of the people and the customs of the West in the 
middle of the nineteenth century. The wild animals that 
abound on the great plains to-day will soon be as unknown 
as the Indian hunters who have for centuries pursued them. 
The world is fast filling up. I trust I am not in error when 
I venture to place some value, however small, on every 
thing which goes to form the truthful history of a condi- 
tion of men incident to the advance of civilization over the 
continent — a condition which forms peculiar types of char- 
acter, produces remarkable developments of human nature 
— a condition, also, which can hardly again exist on this or 
any other continent, and which has therefore especial value 
in the sum of human history. This is the only apology 
which I have to offer for the anecdotes of persons and the 
sketches of frontier life which I have ventured to make a 
part of this volume. Such people will probably not again 
be found in the future life of the race, and unless some rec- 
ord be made of them, it is by no means certain that genera- 
tions to come will not regard them as solely the creatures 
of fiction, in whose pages they have for the most part hith- 
erto been described. 

The portions of the volume devoted to relations of per- 
sonal adventure, as well as those which refer to the gener- 
al characteristics of the Western country, to modes of travel 



INTRODUCTORY. xi 

and life on the prairies, the advice 1 have given to those 
who may be called, either in public service or for private 
purposes, to cross the great plains, the accounts of hunting, 
and descriptions of Western game and the methods of pur- 
suing and killing it — all these parts of the volume are of- 
fered to the public in the hope that they may have prac- 
tical value, and be of public as well as private benefit. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE INDIANS OF THK PLAINS. 

The Indians of the Plains not described in Bancroft's History.— Different in 
Habits from the Eastern Tribes. — First discovered by Coronado. — Simi- 
larity in Habits with the Arabs. — Pantomimic Language. — Characteristics 
of diiferent Tribes Page 17 

CHAPTER II. 

COMANCHE INDIANS. 

Comanche Indians. — Local Subdivisions of the Tribe. — Nomads. — Dimin- 
nishing in Numbers. — Fear of visiting the Whites. — Courtship. — Poly- 
gamy. — Is-sa-keep. — Receiving Guests. — Council. — Singular Custom. — 
Propensity for Horse-racing. — Kickapoo Horse-race. — War Expeditions. 
— Method of Recruiting. — Mexican Prisoners. — Parker Family. — Treat- 
ment of Negroes. — Visit to the Fort. — Mourning Ceremonies. — Ideas of 
the Bible. — Opinion of the Whites. — Medicine Lodges. — Ideas of their own 
Importance. — Way to treat them. — Belief in the Deity 43 

CHAPTER IlL 

INDIAN WARFARE. 

Indian Warfare. — French Army in Algeria. — Turkish Method of Warfare. 
— Tracking Indians. — Telegraphing by Smokes. — Delawares, Shawnees, 
and Kickapoos. — Guides in the Great Desert. — The Khebir. — Delaware's 
Idea of the Compass. — Black Beaver. — Jealousy of his Wife. — Coman- 
che's Ideas of the Whites. — John Bushman. — Marriage Relations. — Jim 
Ned. — Great Horse-thief. — Comanche Law. — Juan Galvan. — Kickapoos 
good Hunters. — Respect for Law 67 

B 



XIV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

PUEBLO INDIANS. 

Pueblo Indians. — Early Discovery. — Situations of their Towns. — Moquis. — 
Coronado's Expedition. — Visit to Santa Domingo. — Laguna. — Christmas 
Ceremonies. — Church Services. — Bird Orchestra. — Dances. — Moqui Vil- 
lages. — Peculiar Dances. — Feasting. — Origin of the Moquis. — Marriage 
Ceremony. — Estufas. — Pottery. .— Extensive Ruins. — Large Houses. — 
Casas Grandes Page 97 

CHAPTER V. 

EED RIVEE EXPEDITION. 

Red River Expedition. — Order. — Early Efforts to explore it, — Navigable 
Portion. — Copper Ores. — New Ore. — Dr. Hitchcock's Opinion. — Great 
Gypsum Belt.— Cause of bad Taste in the Water. — Witchita Mountains. 
— Extent of Choctaw Reservation. — Beautiful Country. — Visit of Witche- 
taws.— Buffaloes.— Comanche Trails.— Buffalo Chase.— Panther killed. — 
Unaccountable Appearance of Water. — South Winds. —Encamping. — 
Head of North Fork. — Visit to Canadian River. — Mirage.— Head of Salt 
'FoYk.—Lan.o-Estacado. — Prairie Dog Town. — Leaving the Train. — Bad 
Water. — Suffering from the Effects of bad Water. — Reach the Head of 
the main Fork of Red River. — Beautiful Scenery. — Bears. — Remarkable 
Canon 114 

CHAPTER VI. 
Turning homeward. — Peculiar Basin. — Another Panther killed. — Witchita 
Mountains. — Mount Scott. — Buffalo Chase. — Witchetaw Villages. — Fine 
Soil. — Reported Massacre. — Mexican Prisoners. — Accused of Horse-steal- 
ing. — Arrival at Fort Arbuckle. — Anxiety of Friends. — Review of Char- 
acteristics of the Country passed over. — Ranges of the Indians 154 

CHAPTER VII. 

INDIAN RESERVATIONS. 

Arrival at Fort Belknap. — Troubles of the Small Tribes of Texas. — Jose 
Maria. — Council. — Major Neighbors. — Wolf Dance. — Comanche Visit to 
the Tonkawas. — Admiration for the Major's Wardrobe. — Enlists in a 
War Expedition. — Little Witchita River.— Big Witchita River, — Perilous 
Position of Major Neighbors. — Head of Big Witchita. — Bad Water. — 
Reach Brazos River. — Head of the Brazos. — Abundance of Game. — Ke- 
tumsee. — Clear Fork of the Brazos. — Council. — Location of the Reserva- 
tions. — Summary. — Double Mountain Fork. — Mesquit Tree. — Mesquit 
Gum. — Civilizing Comanches 170 



CONTENTS. XV 

CHAPTER VIII. 

WINTER EXPEDITION OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 

Winter Expedition over the Kocky Mountains. — Objects of the Expedition. 
— General Scott's Opinions. — Leaving Fort Bridger. — Desertion of Indian 
Guide. — Descending Mountain. — Singular Corral. — Reach Grand River. 
— Ute Indians. — Commence the Ascent of the Rocky Mountains. — Snow. 
— Cache Luggage. — Mules giving out and dying. — Provisions consumed. 
— Commence eating Mules. — Ptarmigan. — Getting lost. — New Guide. — 
Excellent Conduct of the Soldiers. — Destitute Condition. — Bivouac. — 
Reach the Summit of the Mountains. — Send Messengers to Fort Massa- 
chusetts. — Return of the Messengers. — Joy of the Party. — Mariano. — 
Overeating. — Arrival at Fort Massachusetts. — Arrival at Taos. — Compar- 
ative Qualities of different Animals in Snow Page 224 

CHAPTER IX. 

RETURN TRIP TO UTAH. 

Return Trip to Utah. — Route of the March. — Organization of the Party. — 
Order to Halt. — Fonta'me-qid-bouilk. — Herd of Elk. — Arrival of Re-en- 
forcements. — Terrible Snow-storm. — Stampede. — Storms. — Platte River. 
— DenvefCity. — Arrival at Fort Bridger. — Entrance into Salt Lake 
City. — Scarcity of Mormons. — Salt Lake. — Bathing. — Mormon Industry. 
— Proclamation by Brigham Young. — Mormon Depredations. — Order of 
Daniel H. Wells. — Interview with Captain Van Vliet. — Tone of the Pul- 
pit and Press. — Benediction by Heber Kimball 251 

CHAPTER X. 

UNEXPLORED TERRITORY. 

Unexplored Territory. — Lack of geographical Information in 1849. — Wagon 
Road from Fort Smith. — New Road from Dona Ana. — Great Canon of 
the Colorado. — Visit of the Spaniards. — Mr. Kern's Opinions. — Tall Race 
of Men. — Height of the Canon. — Attempts to explore it. — Splendid Scen- 
ery. — Mineral Considerations. — Method for exj)loring the Canon sug- 
gested 276 

CHAPTER XI. 

HUNTING. 

Hunting. — Its Benefits to the Soldier. — Disposition of Fire-arms. — Nama- 
quas. — Tracking. — Horse Tracks. — Elk Hunt. — Faculties of Indians. 
— Deer Hunting. — Rifles. — Antelope. — Bear. — Lassoing Grizzlies. — Am- 
ateur Sportsman. — Big -Horn. — Buffalo. — Rapidly diminishing. — H. H. 
Sibley's Remarks. — Range of the Buffalo. — Chasing on Horseback. — 



XVI CONTENTS, 

Stalking. — Winter Hunting. — The Beaver. — The Prairie Dog. — Hints to 
Sportsmen Page 283 

CHAPTER XII. 

PIONEERS OP THE WEST. 

Pioneers of the West. — Frontier Settlers. — Night at a Log Cabin. — Effects 
of drinking Mint Juleps. — A young Cadefs Arrival at West Point. — Prai- 
rie Belle. — Texas Surveyor. — Dinner in Arkansas. — Night in Arkansas. 
— New Use of Tea. — Yankee Curiosity illustrated. — Propensity for roam- 
ing. — Meeting a Fellow-statesman in Mexico. — An old Acquaintance. — 
Southern Curiosity. — Virginia Hospitality. — Pervcrtion of the English 
Language. — Arrival in the Settlements in 1849. — A Texas Clergyman's 
Experience. — Frontier Settlers of Texas. — Major Neighbors's Experience. 
— The Six-man Team. — Texas Volunteers. — Recuperative Character of 
the Frontiersman illustrated 35G 

CHAPTER XIII. 

MOUNTAINEERS. 

Mountaineers. — Jim Bridger. — His Troubles with the "Danites." — Sir 
George Gore. — Tim Goodale and Jim Baker. — Bear Fight. — Singular 
Duel. — Mariano. — Mr. Clyburn. — His Adventures in the Mountains. — 
His Return to the Settlements. — Narrow Escape on Rock River. — Indian 
Law 399 

CHAPTER XIV. 

CAPTAIN MARTIN SCOTT. 

Captain Martin Scott. — The Coon Story. — The Bear-hunter. — The Hoi'se- 
race. — Courting Days. — Rifle and Pistol Shooting. — His Duel. — Expedi- 
tion with E.xplorers. — Hunting in Texas. — Wonderful Dog. — "Tally 
Ho !" — Return Home to Bennington. — His Death 424 



THIRTY YEARS OF 
ARMY LIFE ON THE BORDER. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE INDIANS OF THE PLAINS. 

The Indians of the Plains not described in Bancroft's History. — Different in 
Habits from the Eastern Tribes. — First discovered by Coronado. — Simi- 
larity in Habits with the Arabs. — Pantomimic Language. — Characteristics 
of different Tribes. 

In the third volume of Bancroft's History of the United 
States may be found a very circumstantial, comprehensive, 
and reliable account of the aborigines, who, from the time 
of the advent of Europeans, have inhabited that portion of 
our territory lying east of the Mississippi River, and the 
author, in this connection, has presented many highly in- 
teresting facts relative to their habits, languages, institu- 
tions, and religions ; but, with the exception of a brief allu- 
sion to the partially civiliz.ed eastern Sioux or Dacotahs, 
he as yet has said nothing concerning the Comanche, Kio- 
way, Cheyenne, and other numerous and warlike tribes 
that range over the great plains west of the Mississippi. 

Several years' service in the district of country frequent- 
ed by this peculiar type of the Indian race has frequently 
thrown me in contact with different tribes, and thereby af- 
forded me good opportunities for observing their peculiari- 
ties and habits, and for collecting the facts which follow. 

Whatever common anatomical or phrenological charac- 
teristics physiologists may have detected in the skulls of 
the great families of the Algonquin, Iroquois, Cherokee, or 

B* 



18 DISCOVERY OF THE PRAIRIE INDIANS. 

Catawba tribes, and those of the natives on the Pacific 
Coast, yet between the habits, languages, and institutions 
of the Eed Men who roam over the Plains, and those of the 
Indians so elaborately described by our distinguished histo- 
rian, there exists as wide a contrast as can be found be- 
tween the Bedouins of the desert and the denizens- of Lon- 
don, Paris, or New York, 

The earliest information we have of the prairie tribes is 
contained in Castenada's account of the daring expedition 
of Coronado, which was sent out from Cicuya, New Mexico, 
in search of the " golden city" of Quivera, during the sum- 
mer of 1541. 

After marching for several days, the party encountered 
"an Arab people called Querechos, who lived in buffalo- 
skin tents, and subsisted exclusively on the raw flesh of 
those animals." Continuing their march in an easterly di- 
rection, the Spaniards reached extensive plains, covered 
with countless herds of buffalo and their erratic enemies, 
the Indian nomads of the prairies. These people had no 
horses then, but they possessed great numbers of dogs, 
which were used to transport their luggage as they follow- 
ed the migrations of the buffalo. They were a mild, peace- 
able race of people, who extended to the Spaniards the 
warmest hospitality and friendship, and they were not ad- 
dicted to those horrible practices which prevailed among 
some of the Indians in New Mexico and Sonora. They 
"jerked" or dried the meat, and made the pemmican, at 
that early period, in precisely the same manner as it is pre- 
pared at the present day by the half-breeds upon the Eed 
Eiver of the North, and they still continue to use the dogs 
as pack animals. 

From this it appears that the Indians seen by the Spanish 
explorers were the same type of aborigines as are now found 
roaming over the vast prairies of North America, and with 



HABITS OF THE NATIVES. 19 

the exception of the changes incident to the introduction 
of the horse, their habits and manner of living in the six- 
teenth century were precisely the same as they are at the 
present moment. The whimsical caprices of fashion hold 
no tyrannical sway over their beaux and belles. They 
are not obliged to send three thousand miles- to ascertain 
what particular colored ribbon would be authorized to 
adorn a bonnet during the succeeding month, or what spe- 
cial style of neck-tie would meet the approbation of the 
heau monde in Paris, The material and cut of their gar- 
ments to-day are precisely the same as they were three 
hundred years ago ; indeed, so uniform and permanent is 
their method of conducting all the affairs of life, that an 
expert has only to examine the remains of an old camp- 
fire, or even a moccasin, in order to determine what partic- 
ular tribe of Indians passed that way. 

The habits of all the prairie tribes assimilate very closely 
to each other in some respects, as, for example, they all fol- 
low the buffaloes ; use the bow and arrow, lance and shield ; 
take the war-path, and fight their battles mounted on horse- 
back, in the open prairie; transport their lodges and all 
their worldly effects wherever they go ; never till the 
ground, but subsist exclusively on fresh-meat diet. . All 
use the sweat or medicine lodges, and religiously believe in 
the efficacy of incantations and jugglery in curing diseases, 
preparing for war, the chase, etc. On the contrary, the na- 
tives of the Eastern States, from the time of the first dis- 
covery of the country, lived in permanent villages, where 
they cultivated fields of corn, and possessed strong attach- 
ment for their ancestral abodes and sepulchres. Seldom 
wandering far from home, they did not use horses, but al- 
ways made their war and hunting expeditions on foot, and 
sought the cover of trees on going into action. 

In their treatment of prisoners of war there has been 



20 ARABS AND PRAIRIE INDIANS. 

also a very marked dissimilarity. The Eastern aborigines, 
although they put their victims to tortures of the most ap- 
palling character, seldom, if ever, violated the chastity of 
the females ; while, on the contrary, the prairie Indians do 
not put their prisoners to death by prolonged tortures, but 
invariably compel the females to submit to their lewd em- 
braces. I have known of .several well-authenticated in- 
stances wliere their barbarous treatment of females has 
proved this conclusively. 

As there seems to be a most striking physical similitude 
between the deserts of Arabia, and the steppes of Central 
Asia, and the prairie mesas of our own country, a marked 
resemblance is also observed in the habits and customs of 
tlie respective inhabitants. The Arabs of the desert, the 
Tartar tribes, and the aboriginal occupants of the prairies, 
are alike wanderers, having no permanent abiding-places, 
transporting their lodges or tents wherever they go, and 
where these are pitched there are their homes. They alike 
permit no authorities to control them but such as receive 
the unanimous sanction of the masses, and the rule of their 
leaders is guided by the counsels of their wise old men, who 
in many instances allay dissensions and curb the impetuos- 
ity of ambitious younger warriors, whose thirst for fame 
would otherwise involve the nation in protracted wars. 
Their government is essentially patriarchal, guided by wise 
and fraternal councils. They are insensible to the wants 
and luxuries of civilization, and know neither poverty nor 
riches, vice or virtue, and are alike exempt from the de- 
plorable vicissitudes of fortune. Theirs is a happy state 
of social equality, which knows not the perplexities of po- 
litical ambition or the crimes of avarice. They are alike 
the most expert horsemen in the world, and possess the 
same fond attachment for the animal. I once made an ef- 
fort to purchase a favorite horse from a chief of one of the 



BEDOUIN HORSE. 21 

bands of the Southern Comanches (Se-na-co), and olBfered 
him a large price, but he could not be persuaded to part 
with him. He said the animal was one of the fleetest in 
their possession, and if he were to sell him it would prove 
a calamity to his whole band, as it often required all the 
speed of this animal to insure success in the buffalo chase ; 
that his loss would be felt by all his people, and he would 
be regarded as very foolish ; moreover, he said (patting his 
favorite on the neck), "I love him very much." 

The like estimation in which the horse is held among the 
Eastern nomads is illustrated in a very interesting story 
related by Mr. W. C. Prime in his " Boat Life in Egypt and 
Nubia." He says : " Speaking of horses as we rode along, 
one of the governor's officers told me a story of an old sheik 
of the Bedouins that I have seen in print in two or three 
forms, but never precisely in this : 

" He was old and poor. The latter virtue is common 
to his race. He owned a tent, a Nubian slave, and a mare ; 
nothing else. The mare was the fleetest animal on the des- 
ert. From the Nile to the Euphrates fame of this animal 
had gone out, and kings had sought in vain to own her. 
The love of the Bedouin for his horse is not that fabled af- 
fection that we read of in books. This love is the same af- 
fection that an American nabob has for his gold, or rather 
that a poor laborer has for his wages. His horse is his life. 
He can rob, plunder, kill, and destroy ad libitum if he have 
a fleet steed. If he have none, he can do nothing, but is the 
prey of every one who has. Acquisition is a prominent 
feature of Arab character, but accumulation is not found in 
the brain of a son of Ishmael. The reason is obvious. If 
he have wealth he has nowhere to keep it. He would be 
robbed in the night. He would, indeed, have no desire to 
keep it ; for the Bedouin who murders you for a shawl, or 
a belt, or some gay trapping, will give it away the next day. 



22 NUBIAN SLAVE. 

"Living this wandering life, tlie old sheik was rich in 
this one mare, which was acknowledged to be the fleetest 
horse in Arabia. 

"Ibrahim Pasha wished the animal, as his father had 
wished before him. He sent various offers to the old 
sheik, but in vain. At length he sent a deputation, with 
five hundred purses (a purse is five pounds), and the old 
man laughed at them. 

" ' Then,' said Ibrahim Pasha, ' I will take your mare.' 

" ' Try it.' 

" He sent a regiment into the desert, and the sheik rode 
around them, and laughed at them, and the regiment came 
home. 

" At last the sheik died from a wound received in a fray 
with a neighboring tribe. Dying, he gave to his Nubian 
slave all that he had — this priceless mare — and the duties 
of the blood revenge. 

"The faithful slave accepted both, and has ever since 
been the terror of the Eastern desert. Yearly he comes 
down like a hawk on the tents of that devoted tribe, and 
leaves a ball or a lance in man or woman. No amount of 
blood satisfies his revenge ; and the mare and the black 
rider are as celebrated in Arabia as the wild huntsman in 
European forests, and much better known." 

The only property of these people, with the exception of 
a few articles belonging to their domestic economy, consists 
entirely in horses and mules, of which they possess great 
numbers. These are mostly pillaged from the Mexicans, 
as is evident from the brand which is found upon them. 
The most successful horse-thieves among them own from 
fifty to two hundred animals. 

In their political and domestic relations there is also a 
similarity to the Old World nomads. They are governed 
by a chief, the tenure of whose office is hereditary so long 



AVAR EXPEDITIONS. 23 

as his administration meets tlie approbation of his follow- 
ers. He leads them to war, and presides at their delibera- 
tions in council ; but should he disgrace himself by any act 
of cowardice or maladministration, they do not hesitate to 
depose him and place a more competent man in his stead. 
Their laws are such as are adapted to their peculiar situa- 
tion, and are sanctioned by the voice of the people. Their 
execution is vested in the subordinate chiefs, or captains, as 
they are called, and they are promptly and rigidly enforced. 
In respect to the rights of property, their code is strictly 
Spartan. They are perhaps as arrant freebooters as can be 
found upon the face of the earth ; and they regard stealing 
from strangers as perfectly legitimate and honorable, and 
that man who has been most successful in this is the most 
highly honored by his tribe ; indeed, a young man who 
has not made one or more of these expeditions into Mexico 
is held in but little repute. In evidence of this, I was told 
by an old chief of the Northern Comanches, called Is-sa- 
keep, that he was the father of four sons, who he said were 
as fine young men as could be found ; that they were a 
great source of comfort to him in his old age, and could 
steal more horses than any young men in his band. 

As these forays are often attended with much toil and 
danger, they are called " war expeditions." It not unfre- 
quently happens that but six or eight young men set out 
upon one of these adventures, and the only outfit each re- 
quires is a horse, with the war equipments, consisting of 
the bow and arrows, lance and shield, with occasionally a 
gun. Thus prepared, they set out upon a journey of a 
thousand miles or more, through a perfectly wild and deso- 
late country, dependent for subsistence wholly upon such 
game as they may chance to find. They make their way 
to the northern provinces of Mexico, where they lie in wait 
near some hacienda until a favorable opportunity offers to 



24 BOW AND ARROW. 

sweep down upon a solitary herdsman, and, with the most 
terrific yells, drive before them all the animals they desire. 
Wo to the panic-stricken ranchero who fails to make a 
precipitate retreat, as they invariably kill such -men as of- 
fer the slightest impediment to their operations, and take 
women and children prisoners, whom they hold in bondage 
of the most servile character. They are sometimes absent 
from their tribes two years or more before their success 
is sufficient to justify their returning with credit to them- 
selves. 

The use of the bow, which is the favorite arm and con- 
stant appendage of the prairie Indian, and which he makes 
use of exclusively in hunting the buffalo, is taught the boys 
at a very early age ; and by constant and careful practice, 
they acquire a degree of proficiency in the art that renders 
them, when grown up to manhood, formidable in war, as 
well as successful in the chase. Their bows are made of 
the tough and elastic wood of the "bois d'arc," or Osage 
orange {Madura auraniiaca), strengthened and re-enforced 
with the sinews of the deer wrapped firmly around them, 
and strung with a cord made of the same material. They 
are not more than one half the length of the old English 
long-bow, which was said to have been sixteen hands' 
breadth in length. The arrows are twenty inches long, of 
flexible wood, with a triangular point of iron at one end, 
and two feathers, intersecting each other at right angles, at 
the opposite extremity. At short distances the bow, in the 
hands of the Indian, is effective, and frequently throws the 
arrow entirely through the huge carcass of the buffalo. In 
using this instrument, the Indian warrior protects himself 
from the missiles of an enemy with a shield of circular 
form, covered with two thicknesses of hard, undressed buf- 
falo hide, separated by a space of about an inch, which is 
stuffed with hair; this is fastened to the left arm by two 



INDIAN WOMEN. 26 

bands, in such a manner as not to interfere with the free 
use of the hand, and offers such resistance that a rifle-ball 
will not penetrate it unless it strikes perpendicular to the 
surface. They also make use of a war-club, made by bend- 
ing a withe around a hard stone of about two pounds 
weight, which has been previously prepared with a groove 
in which the withe fits, and is thereby prevented from slip- 
ping off. The handle is about fourteen inches long, and 
bound with buffalo hide. 

The men are about the medium stature, with bright, cop- 
per-colored complexions and intelligent countenances, in 
many instances with aquiline noses, thin lips, black eyes 
and hair, with but little beard. They never cut the hair, 
but wear it of very great length, and ornament it upon state 
occasions with silver and beads. Their dress consists of 
leggins and moccasins, with a cloth wrapped around the 
loins. The body is generally naked above the middle, ex- 
cept when covered with the buffalo robe, which is a con- 
stant appendage to their wardrobe. The women are short, 
with crooked legs, and are obliged to crop their hair close 
to their heads. They wear, in addition to the leggins and 
moccasins, a skirt of dressed deer-skin. They also tattoo 
their faces and breasts, and are far from being as good look- 
ing as the men. 

Notwithstanding these people are hospitable and kind 
to strangers, and apparently amiable in their dispositions, 
yet, when a warrior conceives himself injured, his thirst 
for revenge knows no satiety. Grave and dignified in his 
deportment, and priding himself upon his coolness of tem- 
per and the control of his passions, yet, when once pro- 
voked, he, like the majority of his race, is implacable and 
unrelenting ; an affront is laid up and cherished in his 
breast, and nothing can efface it from his mind until ample 

reparation has been made. He has no idea of forgiveness : 





26 INDIAN TOILET. 

the insult must be atoned for by blood. With other tribes, 
quarrels can often be settled by presents to the injured 
party ; but with the prairie Indians, the law of equity is 
such that no reconciliation can take place unt^l the reproach 
is wiped out with the blood of their enemy. They make 
no use of money except for ornaments. Like other tribes, 
they are fond of decking themselves with paint, beads, and 
feathers ; and the young warrior often spends more time at 
his toilet than the most conceited coxcomb that can be found 
in civilized life. Bright red and blue are their favorite col- 
ors ; and vermilion is an important article in the stock of 
goods of one of their traders. This they always carry about 
their persons; and whenever they expect to meet stran- 
gers, they always (provided they have time) make their 
toilet with care, and paint their faces. Some few of their 
chiefs who have visited theii' Great Father at Washington 
have returned strongly impressed with the numerical pow- 
er and prosperity of the whites ; but the great majority of 
them, being entirely ignorant of every thing that relates to 
us, and a portion of them having never even seen a white 
man, believe the prairie Indians to be the most powerful 
people in existence ; and the relation of facts which conflict 
with this notion, by their own people, to the masses of the 
tribes at their prairie firesides, only subjects the narrator to 
ridicule, and he is set down as one whose brain has been 
turned by the necromancy of the pale-faces, and is thence- 
forth regarded as wholly unworthy of confidence. 

The Northern and Middle Comanches, as well as the Ki- 
oways, Cheyennes, Sioux, and other tribes, subsist almost 
exclusively upon the flesh of the buffalo, and are known 
among the Indians as "buffalo eaters;" and they are gen- 
erally found upon the trails of those animals, migrating 
with them from place to place, as the seasons come around, 
over those vast and inhospitable plains of the West, which 



HEALTH OF THE PRAIRIES, 27 

are, for the most part, not susceptible of cultivation, and 
seem destined in the future, as in the past, to be the abode 
of these wandering savages. This barren district, however, 
exhibits one characteristic which compensates for many of 
its asperities, as, perhaps, no part of the habitable globe is 
more favorable to health and the continuation of human 
existence than this. Free from marshes, stagnant water, 
great bodies of timber, and all other sources of poisonous 
malaria, and open to every wind that blows, this immense 
grassy expanse is purged from impurities of every . kind, 
and the air imparts a force and vigor to the body and mind 
which repays the occupant in a great measure for his de- 
privations. Nature, which almost every where exhibits 
some compensation to man for great hardships, has here 
conferred upon him health, the first and best of her gifts. 
It is a fact worthy of remark that man, in whatever situa- 
tion he may be placed, is influenced in his modes of exist- 
ence, his physical and moral condition, by the natural re- 
sources of climate, soil, and other circumstances around him, 
over the operations of which he has no control. Fortunate- 
ly, such is the flexibility of his nature that he soon learns 
to adapt himself to the hardest and most untoward circum- 
stances, and, indeed, ultimately becomes not only reconciled 
to his lot, but persuades himself that his condition is far 
preferable to that of most others. 

The example of our Western -border settlers is illustra- 
tive of this fact, as they continue to move farther and far- 
ther west as the settlements encroach upon them, prefer- 
ring a life of dangerous adventure and solitude to personal 
security and the comforts and enjoyments of society ; and 
what was at first necessity to them becomes in time a 
source of excitement and pleasure. 

The nomadic Indian of the prairies demonstrates the po- 
sition still more forcibly ; free as the boundl^^s plains over 



28 LASSOING ANTELOPE. 

which he roams, he neither knows nor wants any luxuries 
beyond what he finds in the buffalo or the deer around 
him. These serve him with food, clothing, and a covering 
for his lodge, and he sighs not for the titles and distinctions 
which occupy the thoughts and engage the energies of civil- 
ized man. His only ambition consists in being able to cope 
successfully with his enemy in war, and in managing his 
steed with unfailing adroitness. He is in the saddle frorn 
boyhood to old age, and his favorite horse is his constant 
comjDanion. It is when mounted that the prairie warrior 
exhibits himself to the best advantage ; here he is at home, 
and his skill in various manoeuvres which he makes avail- 
able in battle — such as throwing himself entirely upon one 
side of his horse, and discharging his arrows with great ra- 
pidity toward the opposite side from beneath the animal's 
neck while he is at full speed — is truly astonishing. Many 
of the women are equally expert, as equestrians, with the 
men. They ride upon the same saddles and in the same 
manner, with a leg upon each side of the horse. As an 
example of their skill in horsemanship, two young women 
of one of the bands of the Northern Comanches, while we 
were encamped near them, upon seeing some antelopes at 
a distance from their camp, mounted horses, and, with las- 
sos in their hands, set off at full speed in pursuit of this 
fleetest inhabitant of the plains. After pursuing them for 
some distance, and taking all the advantages which their cir- 
cuitous course permitted, they finally came near them, and, 
throwing the lasso with unerring precision, secured each 
an animal, and brought it back in triumph to the camp. 
Every warrior has his war-horse, which is the fleetest that 
can be obtained, and he prizes him more highly than any 
thing else in his possession, and it is seldom that he can be 
induced to part with him at any price. He never mounts 
him "except \j:hen going into battle, the buffalo chase, or 



GUARD DETAILS, 29 

^ uponstate occasions. On his return from an excursion he 
is met at the door of his lodge by one of his wives, who 
takes his horse and attends to its wants with the utmost 
care. The prairie warrior performs no menial labor ; his 
only occupation is in war and the chase. His wives, who 
are but little dearer to him than his horse, perform all the 
drudgery. He follows the chase, he smokes his pipe, he 
eats and sleeps ; and thus he passes his time, and in his 
own estimation he is the most lordly and independent sov- 
ereign in the universe. 

The mode of life of the prairie tribes, owing to their un- 
settled and wandering habits, is such as to render their con- 
dition one of constant danger and apprehension. The se- 
curity of their numerous animals from the encroachments 
of their enemies, and their constant liability to attacks, 
make it imperatively necessary for them to be at all times 
upon the alert. Their details for herdsmen are made with 
as much regularity as the guard details at a military post ; 
and even in times of the most profound peace, they guard 
their animals both night and d^y, while scouts are often 
patrolling upon the adjoining heights to give notice of the 
approach of strangers, when their animals are hurried to a 
place of security, and every thing made ready for .defense. 
The manner in which they salute a stranger is somewhat 
peculiar, as my own reception at one of their encampments 
will show. The chief at this encampment was a very cor- 
pulent old man, with exceedingly scanty attire, who, imme- 
diately on our approach, declared himself a great friend of 
the Americans, and persisted in giving me evidence of his 
sincerity by an embrace, which, to please him, I forced my- 
self to submit to, although it was far from agreeable to my 
own feelings. Seizing me in his brawny arms while we 
were yet in the saddle, and laying his greasy head upon 
my shoulder, he inflicted upon me a most bruin -like 



30 INDIAN RECEPTIONS. 

squeeze, which I endured with a degree of patient forti- 
tude worthy of the occasion ; and I was consoling myself 
upon the completion of the salutation, when the savage 
again seized me in his arms, and I was doomed to another 
similar torture, with his head on my other shoulder, while 
at the same time he rubbed his greasy face against mine in 
the most affectionate manner ; all of which proceeding, he 
gave me to understand, was to be regarded as a most dis- 
tinguished and signal mark of affection for the American 
people in general, whom, as he expressed it, he loved so 
much that it almost broke his heart ; and in particular for 
myself, who, as their representative, can bear testimony to 
the strength of his attachment. On leaving his camp, the 
chief shook me heartily by the hand, telling me at the same 
time that he was not a Comanche, but an American ; and 
as I did not feel disposed to be outdone in politeness by an 
Indian, I replied in the same spirit that there was not a 
drop of Anglo-Saxon blood in my veins, but that I was 
wholly and absolutely a Comanche, at which he seemed de- 
lighted, duly understanding and appreciating the compli- 
ment. These people are hospitable and kind to all with 
whom they are not at war; and on the arrival of a stranger 
at their camps a lodge is prepared for him, and he is enter- 
tained as long as he chooses to remain among them. They 
are also kind and affectionate to each other, and as long as 
any thing comestible remains in the camp, all are permitted 
to share alike; but with these exceptions, they are pos- 
sessed of but few virtues. Polygamy is sanctioned, and is 
very common among them, every man being allowed as 
many wives as he can support. 

A few years ago the Comanches (for what reason I could 
not learn) took an inveterate dislike to the negroes, and 
massacred several small parties of those who attempted to 
escape from the Seminoles and cross the Plains for the pur- 



HOSTILITY TO NEGROES. 31 

pose of joining Wild Cat upon the Eio Grande Upon in- 
quiring of them the cause of their hostility to the blacks, 
they replied that it was because they were slaves to the 
whites ; that they were sorry for them. I suspect, howev- 
er, that they were actuated by other motives than they 
cared about acknowledging, and that instead of wishing to 
better their condition by sending them to another world, 
where they would be released from the fetters of bondage, 
they were apprehensive, if they permitted them to pass 
quietly, that in time Wild Cat's followers upon the Rio 
Grrande would augment to such a degree that he would in- 
terfere with their marauding operations along the Mexican 
borders. These people, who are so extremely jealous of 
their own freedom that they will often commit suicide rath- 
er than be taken prisoners, are the more prone to enslave 
others, and this dominant principle is carried to the great- 
est extreme so far as regards their women. A beast of 
burden and a slave to the will of her brutal master, yet, 
strange as it may appear, the woman seems contented with 
her lot, and submits to her fate without a murmur. The 
hardships imposed upon the females are most severe and 
cruel. The distance of rank and consideration which ex- 
ists between the black slave and his master is not greater 
than between the prairie warrior and his wife. Every de- 
grading office that is imposed upon the black by the most 
tyrannical master, falls, among these people, to the lot of 
the wretched female. They, in common with other In- 
dians, are not a prolific race; indeed, it is seldom that a 
woman has more than three or four children. Many of 
these, owing to unavoidable exposure, die young ; the boys, 
however, are nurtured with care, and treated with great 
kindness by their mothers, while the girls are frequently' 
beaten and abused unmercifully. I have never seen an 
idiot, or one that was naturally deformed, among them. 



32 PANTOMIME. 

Of all the Indians I had before encountered, there were 
none who had not an extreme fondness for spirituous liq- 
uors. The prairie tribes that I have seen say the taste of 
such liquor is not pleasant, that it makes fools of them, and 
that they do not desire it. If there are exceptions to this, 
I think they may be set down as factitious rather than nat- 
ural, the appetite having been created by occasional mdul- 
gence in the use of a little at a time. 

Their diet is very simple; as I said before, from infan- 
cy to old age, their only food, with the exception of a few 
wild plants which they find on the prairies, is fresh meat, 
of which, in times of plenty, they consume enormous quan- 
tities. In common with many other tribes, they can, when 
necessity demands it, abstain from eating for several days 
without inconvenience, and they are enabled to make up at 
one meal the deficiency. All of them are extravagantly 
fond of tobacco, which they use for smoking, mixed with 
the dried leaves of the sumach, inhaling the smoke into 
their lungs, and giving it out through their nostrils. Their 
language is verbal and pantomimic. The former consists 
of a very limited number of words, some of which are com- 
mon to all the prairie tribes. The latter is used and under- 
stood with great facility and accuracy by all the tribes from 
the Gila to the Columbia, the motions and signs to express 
ideas being common to all. 

This pantomimic vocabulary, which is exceedingly grace- 
ful and significant, when oral communication is impractica- 
ble, constitutes the court language of the Plains ; and, what 
was a fact of much astonishment to me, I discovered that it 
was nearly the same as that practiced by the mutes in one 
of our deaf and dumb institutions that I visited. For ex- 
ample, there were some five or six boys directed to take 
their places at the black-boards and interpret what I pro- 
posed to say. I then, by pantomimic signs, told them that 



INDIANS AND MUTES. 38 

I went on a buffalo hunt, saw a herd, chased them on horse- 
back, fired my gun and killed one, cut it up, ate some of 
the meat, and went to sleep — every word of which was 
written down upon the black-board by each boy as rapidly 
as the signs were made, excepting that all made the com- 
mon mistake of taking the buffalo for deer. 

The name of each tribe of Indians has a signification, 
which is represented by a sign that is well understood by 
them all. 

The Comanche, or "Snake," is indicated by making with 
the hand a waving motion, in imitation of the crawling of 
the reptile. 

The Cheyenne, or "Cut Arm," by drawing the hand 
across the arm to imitate cutting it with a knife. 

The Arapahoes, or " Smellers," by seizing the nose with 
the thumb and forefinger. 

The Sioux, or "Cut-throats," by drawing the hand across 
the throat. 

The Pawnees, or "Wolves," by placing a hand on each 
side of the forehead, with two fingers pointing to the front, 
to represent the narrow, sharp ears of the wolf. 

The Crows, by imitating the flapping of the bird's wings 
with the palms of the hands. 

On approaching strangers the prairie Indians put their 
horses at full speed, and persons not familiar with their pe- 
culiarities and habits might interpret this as an act of hos- 
tility; but it is their custom with friends as well as ene- 
mies, and should not occasion groundless alarm. 

When a party is discovered approaching thus, and are 
near enough to distinguish signals, all that is necessary in 
order to ascertain their disposition is to raise the right hand 
with the palm in front, and gradually push it forward and 
back several times. They all understand this to be a com- 



34 MARTIAL AMBITION. 

mand to halt, and if they are not hostile it will at once be 
obeyed. 

After they have stopped, the right hand is raised again 
as before, and slowly moved to the right and left, which 
signifies "I do not know you. Who are you?" They 
will then answer the inquiry by giving their signal. If 
this should not be understood, they may be asked if the^^ 
are friends by raising both hands grasped in the manner 
of shaking hands, or by locking the two forefingers firmly 
while the hands are held up. If friendly, they will respond 
with the same signal ; but if enemies, they will probably 
disregard the command to halt, or give the signal of anger 
by closing the hand, placing it against the forehead, and 
turning it back and forth while in that position. 

No people, probably, on the face of the earth are more 
ambitious of martial fame, or entertain a higher apprecia- 
tion for the deeds of a daring and successful warrior than 
the North American savages of the Plains. The attain- 
ment of such reputation is the paramount and absorbing 
object of their lives ; all their aspirations for distinction in- 
variably take this channel of expression. A young man is 
never considered worthy to occupy a seat in council until 
he has encountered an enemy in battle, and he who can 
• count the greatest number of scalps is the most highly hon- 
ored by his tribe. This idea is inculcated from their earli- 
est infancy. It is not surprising, therefore, that with such 
weighty inducements before him, the young man who, as 
yet, has gained no renown as a brave or warrior, should be 
less discriminate in his attacks than older men who have 
already acquired a name. The young braves should, there- 
fore, be closely watched when encountered on the Plains. 

The prairie tribes are seldom at peace with all their 
neighbors, and some of the young braves of a tribe are al- 
most always absent upon a war excursion. These forays 



YOUNG WARRIORS. 35 

sometimes extend into the heart of the northern states of 
Mexico, where the Indians have carried on successful inva- 
sions for many years. They have devastated and depopu- 
lated a great part of Sonora and Chihuahua. The objects 
of these forays are to steal horses and mules, and to take 
prisoners ; and if it so happens that a war-party has been 
unsuccessful in the accomplishment of these ends, or has 
had the misfortune to lose some of its number in battle, 
they become reckless, and will often attack a small party 
with whom they are not at war, provided they hope to es- 
cape detection. The disgrace attendant upon a return to 
their friends without some trophies as an offset to the loss 
of their comrades is a powerful incentive to action, and 
they extend but little mercy to defenseless travelers who 
have the misfortune to encounter them at such a conjunc- 
ture. 

While en route from New Mexico to Arkansas in 1849 I 
was encamped near the head of the Colorado Eiver, and 
'wishing to know the character of the country for a few 
miles in advance of our position, I desired an officer to go 
out and make the reconnoissance. I was lying sick in my 
bed at the time, or I should have performed the duty my- 
self. I expected the officer would have taken an escort 
with him, but he omitted to do so, and started off alone. 
After proceeding a short distance he discovered four mount- 
ed Indians coming at full speed directly toward him, when, 
instead of turning his own horse toward camp, and endeav- 
oring to make his escape (he was well mounted), or halt- 
ing and assuming a defensive attitude, he deliberately rode 
up to them ; after which the tracks indicated that they pro- 
ceeded about three miles together, when the Indians most 
brutally killed and scalped my most unfortunate but too 
credulous friend, who might probably have saved his life 
had he not, in the kindness of his excellent heart, imagined 



o/:; 



6 MURDER OF AN OFFICER. 

that the savages would reciprocate his friendly advances. 
He was' most woefully mistaken, and his life paid the for- 
feit of his generous and noble disposition. 

I have never been able to get any positive information 
as to the persons who committed this murder, yet circum- 
stances render it highly probable that they were a party of 
young Indians who were returning from an unsuccessful 
foray, and they were unable to resist the temptation of tak- 
ing the scalp and horse of the lieutenant. 

A small number of white men, in traveling upon the 
Plains, should not allow a 'party of strange Indians to ap- 
proach them unless able to resist an attack under the most 
unfavorable circumstances. 

It is a safe rule, when a man finds himself alone in the 
prairies, and sees a party of Indians approaching, not to al- 
low them to come near him, and if they persist in so doing, 
to signal themto keep away. If they do not obey, and he 
be mounted upon a fleet horse, he should make for the near- 
est timber. If the Indians follow and press him too close- 
ly, he should halt, turn around, and point his gun at the 
foremost, which will often have the effect of turning them 
back, but he should never draw trigger unless he finds that 
his life depends upon the shot ; for, as soon as his gun is 
discharged, his sole dependence, unless he have time to re- 
load, must be upon the speed of his horse. 

The Indians of the Plains, notwithstanding the encomi- 
ums that have been heaped upon their brethren who for- 
merly occupied the Eastern States for their gratitude, have 
not, so far as I have observed, the most distant conception 
of that sentiment. You may confer numberless benefits 
upon them for years, and the more that is done for them 
the more they will expect. They do not seem to compre- 
hend the motive which dictates an act of benevolence or 
charity, and they invariably attribute it to fear or the ex- 







T) 



baker's views. 39 

pectation of reward. When they make a present, it is with 
a view of getting more than its equivalent in return. 

I have never yet been able to discover that the Western 
wild tribes possessed any of those attributes which among 
civilized nations are regarded as virtues adorning the hu- 
man character. They have yet to be taught the first rudi- 
ments of civilization, and they are at this time as far from 
any knowledge of Christianity, and as worthy subjects for 
missionary enterprise, as the most untutored natives of the 
South Sea Islands. 

The only way to make these merciless freebooters fear or 
respect the authority of our government is, when they mis- 
behave, first of all to chastise them well by striking such a 
blow as will be felt for a long time, and thus show them 
that we are superior to them in war. They will then re- 
spect us much more than when their good-will is purchased 
with presents. 

The opinion of a friend of mine (Jim Baker), who has 
passed the last twenty-five years of his life among the In- 
dians of the Rocky Mountains, corroborates the opinions I 
have advanced upon this head, and although I do not en- 
dorse all of his sentiments, yet many of them are deduced 
from long and matured experience and critical observation. 
He says : 

" They are the most onsartainest varmints in all creation, 
and I reckon tha'r not mor'n half human ; for you never 
seed a human, arter you'd fed and treated him to the best 
fixins in your lodge, jist turn round and steal all your 
horses, or ary other thing he could lay his hands on. No, 
not adzackly. He would feel kinder grateful, and ask you 
to spread a blanket in his lodge ef you ever passed that 
a- way. But the Injun he don't care shucks for you, and is 
ready to do you a heap of mischief as soon as he quits your 
feed. No, Cap.," he continued, "it's not the right way to 



40 baker's views. 

give una presents to buy peace ; but ef I war governor of 
these yeer United States, I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd in- 
vite um all to a big feast, and make b'lieve I wanted to 
have a big talk ; and as soon as I got um all together, I'd 
pitch in and sculp about half of um, and then t'other half 
would be mighty glad to make a peace that would stick.' 
That's the way I'd make a treaty with the dog'ond, red- 
bellied varmints; and as sure as you're born. Cap., that's 
the only way." 

I suggested to him the idea that there would be a lack 
of good faith and honor in such a proceeding, and that it 
would be much more in accordance with my notions of 
fair dealing to meet them openly in the field, and there en- 
deavor to punish them if they deserve it. To this he re- 
plied : 

"Tain't no use to talk about honor with them, Cap.; 
they hain't got no such thing in um ; and they won't show 
fair fight, any way you can fix it. Don't they kill and 
sculp a white man when-ar they get the better on him? 
The mean varmints, they'll never behave themselves until 
you give um a clean out-and-out licking. They can't onder- 
stand white folks' ways, and they won't learn um ; and ef 
you treat um decently, they think you are afeard. You 
may depend on't. Cap., the only way to treat Injuns is to 
thrash them well at first, then the balance will sorter take 
to you and behave themselves." 

It is highly important to every man passing through a 
country frequented by Indians to know some of their hab- 
its, customs, and propensities, as this will facilitate his in- 
tercourse with friendly tribes, and enable him, when he 
wishes to avoid a conflict, to take precautions against com- 
ing in collision with those who are hostile. 

Almost every tribe has its own way of constructing its 
lodges, encamping, making fires, its own style of dress, by 



INDIAN LODGES. 41 

some of which peculiarities the experienced frontiersman 
can generally distinguish them. 

The Osages, for example, make their lodges in the shape 
of a wagon-top, of bent rods or willows covered with skins, 
blankets, or the bark of trees. 

The Kickapoo lodges are made in an oval form, some- 
thing like a rounded haystack, of poles set in the ground, 
bent over, and united at top ; this is covered with cloths or 
bark. 

The Witchetaws, Wacos, Towackanies, and Tonka was 
erect their hunting lodges of sticks put up in the form of 
the frustum of a cone and covered with brush. 

All these tribes leave the frame-work of their lodges 
standing when they move from camp to camp, and this, of 
course, indicates the particular tribe that erected them. 

The Delawares and Shawnees plant two upright forked 
poles, place a stick across them, and stretch a canvas cov- 
ering over it, in the same manner as with the " tente d''abrV 

The Sioux, Arapahoes, Cheyennes, Utes, Snakes, Black- 
feet, and Kioways, make use of the Comanche lodge, cov- 
ered with dressed buffalo hides. 

All the prairie Indians I have met with are the most in- 
veterate beggars. They will flock around strangers, and, 
in the most importunate manner, ask for every thing they 
see, especially tobacco and sugar ; and, if allowed, they will 
handle, examine, and occasionally pilfer such things as hap- 
pen to take their fancy. The proper way to treat them is 
to give them at ontje such articles as are to be disposed of, 
and then, in a firm and decided manner, let them under- 
stand that they are to receive nothing else. 

A party of Keechis once visited my camp with their 
principal chief, who said he had some important business 
to discuss, and demanded a council with the capitan. After 
consent had been given, he assembled his principal men, 

D* 



42 KEECHI COUNCIL. 

and, going tlirougli the usual preliminary of taking a hiy 
smoke, he arose, and with a great deal of ceremony com- 
menced his pompous and flowery speech, which, like all 
others of a similar character, amounted to nothing, until he 
touched upon the real object of his visit. He said he had 
traveled a long-distance over the prairies to see and have a 
talk with his white brothers; that his people were very 
hungry and naked. He then approached me with six 
small sticks, and, after shaking hands, laid one of the sticks 
in my hand, which he said represented sugar, another sig- 
nified tobacco, and the other four, pork, flour, whisky, and 
blankets, all of which he assured me his people were in 
great need of, and must have. His talk was then con- 
cluded, and he sat down, apparently much gratified with 
the graceful and impressive manner with which he had ex- 
ecuted his part of the performance. 

It then devolved upon me to respond to the brilliant ef- 
fort of the prairie orator, which I did in something like the 
following manner. After imitating his style for a short 
time, I closed my remarks by telling him that we were 
poor infantry soldiers, who were always obliged to go on 
foot; that we had become very tired of walking, and would 
like very much to ride. Furthermore, I had observed that 
they had among them many fine horses and mules. I then 
took two small sticks, and imitating as nearly as possible 
the manner of the chief, placed one in his hand, which I 
told him was nothing more nor less than a first-rate horse, 
and then the other, which signified a good large mule. I 
closed by saying that I was ready to exchange presents 
whenever it suited his convenience. 

They looked at each other for some time without speak- 
ing, but finally got up and walked away, and I was not 
troubled with them again. 



COJNtANCHE INDIANS. 43 



CHAPTER 11. 

COMANCHE INDIANS. 

Comanche Indians. — Local Subdivisions of the Tribe. — Nomads. — Dimin- 
nishing in Numbers. — Fear of visiting the Whites. — Courtship. — Poly- 
gamy. — Is-sa-keep. — Receiving Guests. — Council. — Singular Custom. — 
Propensity for Horse-racing. — Kickapoo Horse-race. — War Expeditions. 
— Method of Recruiting. — Mexican Prisoners. — Parker Family. — Treat- 
ment of Negroes. — Visit to the Fort. — Mourning Ceremonies. — Ideas of 
the Bible. — Opinion of the Whites. — Medicine Lodges. — Ideas of their own 
Importance. — Way to treat them. — Belief in the Deity. 

Of all the prairie tribes, with perhaps the exception of 
the Dacotahs or Sioux, the Comancheg are the most numer- 
ous and warlike. They have been variously estimated as 
numbering from 12,000 to 18,000 souls ; probably the for- 
mer is nearest the truth. They have three local grand di- 
visions, namely, the Northern, Middle, and Southern, and 
designated by them as Tennawas, Yamparacks, and Coman- 
ches. These are subdivided into smaller bands, each hav- 
ing its separate chief or captain. 

The division of the nation known as the " Southern Co- 
manches" remains permanently within the limits of the ter- 
ritory pertaining to Texas. It consists of two bands, each 
of which has its principal and subordinate chiefs, and -they 
do not of late years acknowledge the sovereignty of a com- 
mon ruler and leader in their united councils nor in war. 
The names of their two principal chiefs were in 1854 "Se- 
naco" and " Ketumsee." The asfffres-ate number in the two 
bands at that period was about 1100 souls. 

These people lead a predatory and pastoral life, roving 



44 SOUTHERN COMAIiCHES. 

from place to place in search of game for their own sub- 
sistence and grass for their animals. Their range extends 
from the Red River to the Colorado. In the summer they 
are sometimes found upon the former stream, but the win- 
ters are always passed upon the waters of the Brazos and 
Colorado, where the grass remains fresh and green during 
the winter season, and the climate is mild and agreeable. 

As the buffaloes have entirely abandoned their hunting 
grounds, and do not now extend their migrations south of 
Red River in this direction, and as these Indians do not 
venture to cross that stream in pursuit of them, they derive 
no sustenance from the flesh of these animals, or clothing 
from their skins, and they are reduced to the necessity of 
depending upon the deer and antelope for food and raiment. 
Fortunately, in this mild and genial climate they require 
but little clothing. 

In a country like theirs, where the game is by no means 
abundant, the means for sustaining life are exceedingly pre- 
carious and uncertain, and the Indians who depend exclu- 
sively upon the fruits of the chase are often subjected to 
great privations and sufferings; and were it not for their 
horses and mules, which are made use of for food when 
nothing else can be obtained, many of them would perish 
from hunger. They formerly possessed great numbers of 
these animals, but they are rapidly diminishing, and I ob- 
served a very sensible decrease in five years. 

They have lived so long near the border white settlers 
that they are familiar with many of their customs and hab- 
its, but, like their red kindred in other places, they unfortu- 
nately only see fit to adopt such as are detrimental to them. 
They are becoming addicted to the use of that bane of their 
race, ardent spirits, and are much more idle and licentious 
than before they came in contact with the pale-faces. Dis- 
eases induced by their immoral practices, with the almost 



MIDPLE COMANCHES. 45 

continual wars in which they have been engaged, have 
probably contributed largely to the great aggregate of mor- 
tality among them. Tliey themselves acknowledge that 
their numbers are rapidly diminishing, and that it is only 
a few years since they were much more populous than at 
present. Many of them have the discernment to foresee 
that the only means by which they can preserve their iden- 
tity as a nation, for any great length of time, is in an im- 
mediate abandonment of their present nomadic life, and the 
adoption of agricultural habits. 

It can not be expected that the male adults of the present 
generation will cast aside their national prejudices against 
tilling the soil (which they regard as the occupation of a 
slave), and at once fall into habits of industry ; but may it 
not be hoped that the women and children can be taught 
the rudiments of agriculture, and the next generations de- 
rive profit therefrom ? 

The " Middle Comanches," as their designation implies, 
occupy the country lying between the other divisions of 
the tribe. There are two bands in this branch of the na- 
tion, called " No-co-nies" and " Ten-na-was." Their prin- i- 
cipal chiefs are named " Pah-hah-eu-ka," " Po-hah-cot-o- 
wit," and " Choice." 

From the best information that can be obtained, they are 
supposed to number about 3500 souls. They spend the 
winters in Northwestern Texas, and in the summer move 
north, across the Red and Canadian Rivers, toward the Ar- 
kansas, in pursuit of the buffaloes. They migrate with the 
game and seasons. They are more in a state of nature than 
the Southern Comanches, still using the buffalo skin for a 
covering, and seldom visiting the white settlements. 

They are on terms of peace and friendship with their 
neighboring brethren on either side of them, and seem to 
form an intermediate connecting link between them. 



46 NORTHERN COMANCHES. 

They interchange visits with their neighbors, and one of 
their sub-chiefs was present with them when they met us 
upon the Brazos. 

They have occasionally seen the white traders, and a few 
of them have visited some of the outer settlements upon 
the Colorado, but they generally have but a very vague 
conception of the customs, numbers, and power of the 
whites. Some years since I chanced to meet with one of 
their chiefs at a trading-post near the Canadian. He had 
left his band on Eed River, and come in alone to visit a 
Cherokee trader, and stated that he had endeavored to pre- 
vail upon some of his people to accompany him, but they 
all declined, upon the supposition that he was embarking 
upon a desperate expedition, where his life would be placed 
in imminent jeopardy, and they were not disposed to en- 
counter the risks attending such a reckless adventure. 

The " ISTorthern Comanches" are much more wild than 
either of the others we have spoken of Through summer 
and winter they range the plains upon tbe trails of the buf- 
faloes. At one time their larder is overstocked and they 
gorge themselves to repletion, while at another time they 
are famishing for the aliment necessary to sustain life. All 
of them are alike a race of hunters, depending from day to 
day upon the results of the chase. 

The country they inhabit extends from the Arkansas to 
Red River, and it is but seldom that they have met with 
any whites, and when I saw them in 1849 none of them 
had ever seen a house, with the exception of a few who had 
been in Mexico. 

Although I have not been able to obtain sufiicient data 
to enable me to arrive at any thing like a satisfactory esti- 
mate of the numbers of this branch of the nation, yet there 
is no doubt that they greatly exceed the aggregate of the 
other two. 



COMANCHE COURTSHIP. 49 

The Comanches suppose their original progenitors came 
from the west. 

Polygamy is prevalent among them, every man having 
as many wives as he can support. 

Their courtship is as brief as it is peculiar. When he de- 
sires to marry, the suitor provides himself with horses, and 
such goods as he thinks will be acceptable to the father of 
his intended, takes them to the lodge occupied by the head 
of the family, and then seats himself near by to await the 
result of the negotiation. The father then comes out, ex- 
amines what has been offered, and, if it is satisfactory, leads 
out his daughter and hands her over to the bridegroom, and 
the marriage ceremony is completed. The girl has no voice 
in the matter, and has no alternative but to submit to the 
decision of her father. 

This summary method of match-making often leads to 
family dissension ; and as young girls are often compelled 
to unite their fortunes with old men, this not unfrequently 
results in subsequent elopements with younger lovers. In 
such cases, the husband pursues the truants ; and their for- 
mer practice authorized him, in case he overtook them, to 
put them to death ; but now they generally compromise the 
matter by an equivalent in horses, after which the girl be- 
comes the property of her lover. 

Ketumsee, the chief of one of the bands of Southern Co- 
manches, a man at least sixty years old, had four wives, the 
eldest of whom was not over twenty years of age. They 
seemed very fond of the old man, and would sit by the 
hour combing his hair and caressing him. I showed one 
of them a photographic likeness of my wife, which seemed 
to interest her very much, and she frequently requested me 
to allow her to look at it afterward. She seemed to imag- 
ine that it was living, and would point to the eyes and 
smile, as much as to say it could see. 

E 



50 IS-SA-KEEP. 

I upon one occasion asked her how she would like to 
leave Ketumsee and go home with me. She in reply 
pointed to the photograph, and drew her other hand across 
her throat, most significantly indicating that, in her judg- 
ment, my house would be any thing but a safe place for 
her, and as I was rather inclined to the same opinion my- 
self, I did not feel dis^DOsed to discuss the subject any far- 
ther. 

It was formerly regarded by the Comanches as an essen- 
tial part of genuine hospitality that their guests should have 
wives assigned to them during their stay in camp. This 
custom, however, is now pretty much abandoned. In 1849, 
while en route to New Mexico, I met with a very large band 
of Northern Comanches, commanded by a venerable old 
chief called Is-sa-keep (Wolf's Shoulder). He requested us 
to encamp at a certain place, as he wished to hold a council 
with us. I complied with his request, and the next morn- 
ing he, with about a dozen of his principal men, dressed 
and painted in the most fantastic manner, rode into our 
camp with great pomp and ceremony, dismounted at my 
tent, and after embracing me a la Mexicano (only, to use a 
trite phrase, "a good deal more so," as they nearly squeezed 
the breath out of my body), they seated themselves around 
the door of my tent, and intimated that they were ready 
for a "big talk." I informed them that we were escorting 
emigrants to California, and that in all- probability many 
more would, from time to time, travel over the same road, 
and that our authorities would hold them responsible if these 
people were molested. I also informed them that our gov- 
ernment, by treaty with Mexico, had obligated itself to put 
a stop to farther depredations upon the people of that coun- 
try by Indians living within our territory, and that all Mex- 
ican prisoners in their hands must be turned over to our au- 
thorities forthwith, etc. 



AVERSION TO LIQUOR. 51 

Is-sa-keep replied that the talk was very good except in 
the two particulars of horse-stealing and returning prison- 
ers, which made him very sad. 

After the council was concluded I mixed a glass of weak 
brandy toddy and offered it to the chief. He tasted the 
beverage and passed it to the next, and from him it went 
around the entire circle, all the Indians taking a sip, but at 
the same time making grimaces, as if it was not pleasant. 
The glass was handed back to me by the chief, with the re- 
mark that it was not good, as it took away their senses and 
made fools of them. 

Shortly after this I observed my interpreter, Black Bea- 
ver, engaged in quite an animated discussion with the chief, 
which led me to inquire what they were talking about. At 
this time there were probably five hundred emigrants and 
soldiers collected directly around our circle, all manifesting 
the utmost curiosity to hear every thing that was said. Bea- 
ver, in reply to my question, then said, "He say, captain, he 
bring two wife for you," pointing to two girls who were 
sitting near by. I was a good deal embarrassed at such a 
proposition, made in presence of so large an assembly, but 
told Beaver to inform the chief that this was not in accord- 
ance with the customs of the white people ; that they only 
had one wife at home, and were not at all disposed to mar- 
ry others when abroad. This was interpreted to Is-sa-keep, 
and, after a brief consultation, Beaver interpreted, "He say, 
captain, you the strangest man he never see ; every man he 
seen before, when he been travlin' long time, the fust thing- 
he want, ?(;?/e." 

Lieutenant John Buford (afterward General Buford), who 
was attached to my command at this time, had, just previ- 
ous to our departure from Arkansas, received from his un- 
cle in Kentucky a present of one of the finest of his large 
stud of thorough-bred horses, and he had taken great pains 



52 PROPENSITY FOR RACING. 

to keep him up in good running condition during our trip. 
He had heard of the inveterate propensity of the Coman- 
ches for horse-racing, and expected they might be disposed 
to try the speed of some of their own animals with his. As 
we were all anxious to witness the comparative racing qual- 
ities of the full-blooded stock and the Indian horses, we in- 
quired of the chief if he was inclined to enter any of his 
horses against that of the lieutenant. He said he was very 
fond of the sport, but that, unfortunately, all of their fleetest 
horses were then absent on a buffalo hunt ; but if, on our re- 
turn, we still wished to try the experiment, he would will- 
ingly bet as many horses as we chose to risk upon the re- 
sult, provided we would consent to run fourteen miles. 

The race did not, therefore, come off at that time, but 
Beaver seemed to be fully impressed with the conviction 
that if it had, our thoroughbred would have been beaten. 

As an evidence in favor of this supposition, he said he 
once accompanied a party of Kickapoos, who had pur- 
chased a very fleet race-horse from a white man in Mis- 
souri, and took him a long distance out into the Plains for 
the express purpose of running him against the Comanche 
horses. They conducted him very carefully, packing grain 
for him the entire distance, and took with them a large 
number of other horses to wager with Comanches, and 
they all expected confidently to make a good speculation. 

They arrived at the Comanche camp, and made bets of 
all their horses and their blankets, and the preliminaries 
of the contest were satisfactorily arranged for all parties. 
Beaver, who was the guest of the principal chief, felt the 
most perfect confidence, and was disposed to venture every 
thing he possessed, but his host endeavored to dissuade 
him from betting on the race at all, telling him he would 
be certain to lose his property. He persisted, however, 
and the chief took all his bets. The race was run, and, to 



WAR EXPEDITIONS. 53 

the astonishment and discomfiture of the Kickapoos, their 
horse was badly beaten. The magnanimous chief then 
told Beaver to take back his horses, and never again to 
venture in a speculation, the success of which depended 
upon beating the Comanches in horse-racing. 

The vanquished sportsmen, with the single exception of 
my friend Beaver, returned home on foot, partially deprived 
of their clothing, and a good deal chopfallen, and, as I un- 
derstand, resolved from thenceforth never to repeat the ex- 
periment. 

WAR EXPEDITIONS. 

When a chief desires to organize a war-party, he pro- 
vides himself with a long pole, attaches a red flag to the 
end of it, and trims the top with eagle feathers. He then 
mounts his horse in his war costume, and rides around 
through the camp singing the war-song. Those who are 
disposed to join the expedition mount their horses and fall 
into the procession ; after parading about for a time, all dis- 
mount, and the war-dance is performed. This ceremony is 
continued from day to day until a sufficient number of vol- 
unteers are found to accomplish the objects desired, when 
they set out for the theatre of their intended exploits. 

As they proceed upon their expedition, it sometimes hap- 
pens that the chief with whom it originated, and who inva- 
riably assumes the command, becomes discouraged at not 
finding an opportunity of displaying his warlike abilities, 
and abandons the enterprise; in which event, if others of 
the party desire to proceed farther, they select another lead- 
er and push on, and thus so long as any one of the party 
holds out. 

A war-party is sometimes absent for a great length of 
time, and for days, weeks, and months their friends at home 
anxiously await their return, until suddenly, from afar, the 

E* 



54 PRISONEES. 

sTirill war-cry of an avaoit courier is beard proclaiming the 
approach of the victorious warriors. The camp is in an in- 
stant alive with excitement and commotion. Men, women, 
and children swarm out to meet the advancing party. 
Their white horses are painted and decked out in the most 
fantastic style, and led in advance of the triumphant pro- 
cession ; and, as they pass around through the village, the 
old women set up a most unearthly howl of exultation, 
after which the scalp-dance is performed with all the pomp 
and display their limited resources admit of, the warriors 
having their faces painted black. 

When, on the other hand, the expedition terminates dis- 
astrously by the loss of some of the party in battle, the rel- 
atives of the deceased cut off their own hair and the tails 
and manes of their horses as symbols of mourning, and 
howl and cry for a long time. 

The Comanches always have among them Mexican pris- 
oners, whom they have captured when they were young 
children, and have raised and adopted into the nation- 
They seem readily to embrace the habits of the Indians, 
and intermarry with them. 

I had in my employ for some considerable time a young 
man named Parker, who, with a sister, were captured by 
the Comanches on the borders of Texas when they were 
only six or eight years old. The Indians murdered all the 
family with the exception of these two children and their 
mother ; th« latter, fortunately, was absent from home at 
the time. They carried the children away to their prairie 
haunts, where they kept them for several years, until at 
length a Delaware trader purchased the boy and brought 
him to Fort Gibson, from whence he was sent home to his 
mother's house. She was, of course, greatly rejoiced to see 
him again, but deplored the loss of her daughter, and pre- 
vailed upon the young man to return into the Plains, hunt 



TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 55 

up the Comanches, and endeavor to purcbase his sister from 
them, 

lie went, found the camp, and used every argument in 
his power to prevail upon his sister to leave the Indians 
and return home with him, but it was of no avail. She 
told him that she knew no mother except her adopted In- 
dian parent; that her husband, children, and friends, and 
all else that she held dear on earth, were there, and there 
she was resolved to remain for the remainder of her life. 
He left her and returned home alone, and, if she is living, 
she is probably with the savages yet. 

A few years since there was another white man living in 
Western Texas who was captured by the Comanches when 
a small boy, and lived with them until he was grown up. 
On his return to his relatives he had become so thorough- 
ly Comancheized that, at times when he felt hungry, he 
would take his rifle, go out into his father's pasture, shoot 
down an ox, and, after cutting off a steak, build a fire, and 
cook it on a stick, leaving the remainder for the wolves ; 
and it was some considerable tim6 before his family could 
convince him of the impropriety of this improvident pro- 
ceeding. 

A Delaware trader, in 1850, brought into the settlements 
two negro girls which he had obtained from the Comanches. 
It appeared that they had been with a number of Seminole 
negroes who attempted to cross the Plains to join Wild Cat 
upon the Rio Grande. 

The party had been intercepted by the Indians, and ev- 
ery one, with the exception of these two girls, put to death. 
They were taken to the camp, where the most inhuman 
barbarities were perpetrated upon them. Among other 
fiendish atrocities, the savages scraped through their skin 
into the flesh, believing that beneath the cuticle the flesh 
was black like the color upon the exterior. They burned 



^ 



66 - SWAPPING WIVES. 

them with live coals to ascertain whether fire produced the 
same sensations of pain as with their own people, and tried 
various other experiments which were attended with most 
acute torture. The poor girls were shockingly scarred and 
mutilated when I saw them. 

While I was stationed at Camp Arbuckle, on the Cana- 
dian River, in 1850, a band of prairie Indians came in to 
see us, and, as this_ was probably the first time they had 
ever entered a white man's habitation, every thing was 
novel to them, and their curiosity was very much excited. 
The chief examined various articles of furniture, books, and 
pictures, but nothing seemed to attract his attention so 
much as an oil-cloth rug upon the floor. It was covered 
with bright colors, which appeared to take his fancy amaz- 
ingly, and he scrutinized it very closely. He scraped it 
with his finger nails, and, wetting his fingers, tried to wash 
off the coloring; and, after he had seen all that interested 
him, inquired if the President had sent me all those things 
from Washington. My wife showed him specimens of em- 
broidery, which pleased him so much that he paid her the 
compliment of proposing to exchange wives with me, and, 
upon my referring him to her for a decision, he informed 
me that he was not in the habit of trading with squaws, but 
if I would only say the word, he was ready to sioa]p right 
off. 

When a Comanche warrior dies, he is buried on the sum- 
mit of a high hill, in a sitting posture, with his face to the 
east, and his bufflilo robe and all his scanty wardrobe with 
him. His best horses and all his war implements are killed 
and destroyed, and the remainder of his animals have their 
manes and tails shaved close, and the women of the family 
crop their hair as a symbol of affliction and mourning. ' Aft- 
er the death the relatives and friends of the deceased as- 
semble morning and evening outside the camp, where they 



MRS. SANTA ANA. 57 

cry and cut themselves with knives for half an hour or 
more ; and this sometimes lasts for a month. 

When any person dies the corpse is buried immediate- 
ly. The death of a young warrior is always greatly la- 
mented, and the mourning ceremonies continue a long time ; 
but when an old man dies they only mourn for him a few 
days, upon the principle that his services were no longer 
useful to his people. 

In 1849 I met with the widow of a prominent chief of 
the Southern Comanches, " Santa Ana," who had then been 
dead about three years; yet she still continued the mourn- 
ing ceremonies, and every evening, just before sunset, she 
could be seen on a hill adjacent to the camp crying and 
howling most piteously. This woman possessed a large 
number of very valuable horses and mules, and she had re- 
ceived several very advantageous offers to renew matrimo- 
nial relations with leading men of the tribe, but she declined 
them all, and seemed devoted to the memory of her depart- 
ed husband. 

She did not associate much with the men, but pitched 
her lodge at a distance from all others ; and I was informed 
that there was no man in the tribe who could excel her in 
hunting. She was said to have killed in one morning near 
Fort Chadbourn fourteen deer. ' 

She was one of the most dignified and distinguished-look- 
ing persons we saw in the tribe. 

These Indians believe that all, after death, go to a place 
in the spirit world where there is no scarcity of buffjilo, and 
where their condition is supremely happy provided they 
have taken a plenty of scalps and stolen a goodly number 
of horses in this world. They also believe that the Great 
Spirit permits them to revisit the earth in the night-time, 
but requires them to return to the spirit hunting-grounds 
before the dawn of day. 



58 IDEAS OF THE BIBLE. 

While with the Southern Comanches I showed a Bible to 
Senaco, and endeavored, through the medium of a good in- 
terpreter, to make him comprehend its import. Among oth- 
er things, I stated to him that it was a talk which had been 
communicated to our forefathers by the Great Spirit, and 
by them carefully handed down from generation to genera- 
tion to us. 

I then asked him if his people had ever heard of this 
book before. He answered in the negative, and added that 
in his opinion this talk emanated from the God of the white 
man, as the Comanches' God was so far distant in the sky 
that they could not hear him speak, and when they wished 
to communicate with him they were obliged to do it through 
the medium of the sun, which they could see and hold con- 
verse with. 

They are desirous of procuring from whomsoever they 
meet testimonials of their good behavior, which they pre- 
serve with great care, and exhibit upon all occasions to 
strangers as a guarantee of future good conduct. 

On meeting with a chief of the Southern Comanches in 
1849, after going through the usual ceremony of embracing, 
and assuring me that he was the best friend the Americans 
ever had among the Indians, he exhibited numerous certifi- 
cates from the different white men he had met with, testify- 
ing to his friendly disposition. Among these was one that 
he desired me to read with special attention, as he said he 
was of the opinion that perhaps it might not be so compli- 
mentary in its character as some of the others. It was in 
these words : 

" The bearer of this says 'he is a Comanche chief, named 
Senaco ; that he is the biggest Indian and best friend the 
whites ever had ; in fact, that he is a first-rate fellow ; but 
I believe he is a d — d rascal, so look out for hwiJ'' 

I smiled on reading the paper, and, looking up, found the 



EXCHANGING PRESENTS. 69 

chief's eyes intently fixed upon mine with an expression of 
themost earnest inquiry. I told him the paper was not as 
good as it might be, whereupon he destroyed it. 

Five years after this interview I met Senaco again near 
the same place. He recognized me at once, and, much to 
my surprise, pronounced my name quite distinctly. 

These Indians, like most others, are accustomed, in their 
diplomatic intercourse, to exchange presents, and they seem 
to have no idea of friendship unaccompanied by a substan- 
tial token in this form. Moreover, they measure the strength 
of the attachment of their friends by the magnitude of the 
presents they receive. In the talk which I held with Is-sa- 
keep,I took occasion to say that the President of the United 
States was the friend of his red children, and desired to live 
at peace with them all. He, in reply, said he was much 
astonished to hear this; for, judging from the few trifling 
presents I had made his people, he had formed the opinion 
that the "Big Captain" of the pale-faces held them in but 
little estimation. 

The limited intercourse that has existed between the Co- 
manches and the whites does not appear to have prepos- 
sessed the former much in our favor, as the following inci- 
dent, which was related to me by Mr. Israel Fulsom, a very 
intelligent and educated Chickasaw, goes to show. Upon 
a certain occasion, while he was visiting them, he remarked 
to the chief that it was only a few years since the people 
of his own nation were equally as uncivilized as the Co- 
manches, but that, through the instrumentality of the white 
missionaries, they had been induced to abandon their pre- 
carious hunting habits, and had learned to read and write, 
and to cultivate the soil, so that they were then enabled to 
live in the same manner as the white people, and were al- 
ways supplied with abundance of food. 

The chief replied that he had no doubt there were some 



60 OPINIONS OF WHITE MEN. 

advantages to be derived from education, and that he had 
often given the subject his serious consideration, but that 
the pale-faces were all such arrant rascals that he was afraid 
to let them take up their abode with his people. Where- 
ujDon Mr. Folsom suggested to him that probably he had 
met with only the bad specimens of the white race, and 
that he himself had known very many good men among 
them who had conferred important benefits upon the Red 
Man. 

The Comanche replied that possibly such might be the 
case, but he had always been under the impression that 
there were but few, if any honest white men. He said far- 
ther, that if the Chickasaws would send out one of their 
educated men to teach their children to read and write, 
they would have no objections. 

Like other Indians, they submit with imperturbable sto- 
icism and apathy to misfortunes of the most serious charac- 
ter, and, in the presence of strangers, manifest no surprise 
or curiosity at the exhibition of novelties ; yet this appar- 
ent indifference is assumed, and they are, in reality, very in- 
quisitive people. In every village may be seen small struc- 
tures, consisting of a frame-work of slight poles, bent into a 
semi-spherical form, and covered with buffalo hides. These 
are called medicine lodges^ and are used as vapor-baths. The 
patient is seated within the lodge, beside several heated 
stones, upon which water is thrown, producing a dense hot 
vapor, which brings on a profuse perspiration, while, at the 
same time, the shamans, or medicine-men, who profess to 
have the power of communicating with the unseen world, 
and of propitiating the malevolence of evil spirits, are per- 
forming various incantations, accompanied by music, on the 
outside. Such means are resorted to for healing all dis- 
eases ; and I am also informed that their young men are 
obliged to undergo a regular course of steam-bathing before 



OPINIONS OF THEMSELVES. 61 

they are considered worthy of assuming the responsible du- 
ties of warriors. The knowledge they possess of their early 
history is very vague and limited, and does not extend far- 
ther back than a few generations. They say that their fore- 
fathers lived precisely as they do, and followed the buffalo ; 
that they came from a country toward the setting sun, 
where they expect to return after death. They acknowl- 
edge the existence and power of a great supernatural agent, 
who directs and controls all things; but this power they 
conceive to be vested in the sun, which they appeal to on 
all occasions of moment. 

As I remarked before, the Northern Comanches are fully 
impressed with the conviction that theirs is the most pow- 
erful race in existence, and in 1854 some of their chiefs 
sent a message to the commanding officer of one of our 
military posts to the effect that, as soon as the grass ap- 
peared in the spring, he intended paying him a visit, when 
he might expect to receive a severe whipping, and lose all 
his animals. Shortly afterward the post was abandoned, 
and our interpreter informed me that the Indians verily be- 
lieved it was in consequence of the threat they had made. 

The question as to what line of policy will the most 
speedily and effectually bring these Indians into subjection 
to the dictates of our authorities, and control their future 
movements, is one fraught with difficulties, but must sooner 
or later be met. 

The limits of their accustomed range are rapidly con- 
tracting, and their means of subsistence undergoing a cor- 
responding diminution. The white man is advancing with 
rapid strides upon all sides of them, and they are forced to 
give way to his encroachments. The time is not far distant 
when the buffaloes will become extinct, and they will then 
be compelled to adopt some other mode of life than the 
chase for a subsistence. 

F 



62 PROPER POLICY. 

Excepting a portion of the Southern Comanches, they 
have not as yet taken the first step toward civilization, and 
are entire strangers to labor or husbandry. The Indians 
must live, and when the Plains will not afford them a main- 
tenance, they will unquestionably seek it from their neigh- 
bors. No man will quietly submit to starvation when food 
is within his reach, and if he can not obtain it honestly he 
will steal it, or take it by force. If, therefore, we do not in- 
duce them to engage in agricultural avocations, we shall, in 
a few years, have before us the alternative of exterminating 
the race or feeding them perpetually. 

That they are destined ultimately to extinction does not, 
in my mind, admit of a doubt, and it may be beyond the 
agency of human control to avert such a result. But it 
seems to me in accordance with the benevolent spirit of our 
institutions that we should endeavor to make the pathway 
of their exit from the sphere of human existence as smooth 
and easy as possible, and I know no more effectual way of 
accomplishing this than by teaching them to till the soil. 

For the reasons before mentioned, it may at first be nec- 
essary for our government to assert its authority over them 
by a prompt and vigorous exercise of the military arm, and 
as soon as this is felt and acknowledged, the fostering hand 
of government should be kindly extended to them, and 
strong inducements offered to all who are disposed to labor, 
and every assistance given them upon the new sphere of 
action. In doing this, we discharge a debt of honor to the 
Eed Man, and confer upon him benefits of vastly more im- 
portance than by giving him presents of money and goods, 
the greater part of which are oftentimes stolen by corrupt 
agents and unprincipled traders. The tendency of the 
policy I have indicated will be to assemble these people in 
communities where they will be more readily controlled, 
and I predict from it the most gratifying results. 



TEXAS RANGERS, 63 

The predatory incursions of the Northern and Middle 
Comanches • upon the western borders of Texas and the 
northern states of Mexico were carried on successfully and 
uninterruptedly for many years. During the existence of 
the republic of Texas, the pioneers of that country were 
continually harassed by bands of these freebooters, and the 
result of their efforts shows how difficult it was to subdue 
them in war. 

From 1838 to 1842, the republic was involved in contin- 
ual hostilities with these Indians, and during a portion of 
that time they had a large force in the field, many of whom 
were frontier settlers, whose sinews of iron and frames of 
oaken firmness had undergone such a system of training 
that they were enabled to set at defiance the vicissitudes of 
the most capricious climate, and were capable of enduring 
almost any amount of exposure and fatigue. These men 
were commanded by energetic and experienced leaders, and 
were well qualified to fill their stations. 

Thus organized, they constituted the renowned " Texas 
Eangers," who are to this day held up by their statesmen 
as examples of the most successful Indian fighters that our 
country has produced. 

The operations of the Eangers, as with our own troops 
that have been stationed along the Eio Grande frontier, 
were generally directed against war-parties, which were well 
mounted, and only suffered themselves to be approached 
when it suited their purposes, as they could at any time 
make their escape to their distant homes in the north, 
where they were out of reach from pursuit. 

In this protracted warfare it was seldom that any deci- 
sive advantages were gained over the Indians, and after ex- 
pending her utmost energies in the vain attempt to chastise 
them into subjection, the sparsely-populated republic was 
finally compelled to resort to the peace policy. 



64 EELIGION. 

One of the most prominent features in the religious 
creeds of the natives of this continent, and a coincidence 
of faith common to them all, so far as I have been able to 
learn, is the remarkable fact that they universally acknowl- 
edge the existence of, and pay homage to, one great and 
almighty Spirit. 

They are Theists of the least sensual stamp ; and that they 
have seldom, if ever, been idolaters, is a fact that is well es- 
tablished in the history of the race from the discovery of 
America. It is true that many of the tribes are in the 
habit of making their supplications to the great Disposer 
of Events through the medium of the sun, moon, or earth. 
This, however, is only true so far as these media are to be 
considered as symbolic of the real deity. They are not re- 
garded as in themselves possessing the power of supreme 
divinity, but as intermediate agents through which wish- 
es are communicated to the Creator. 

In some other nations of the Old "World the type has 
sometimes been adopted as the real and actual deity or ob- 
ject of worship. 

"Sun-worship" seems to have been universal over the 
Old World. It has been found in Egj^pt, Chaldea, Persia, 
Greece, India, Scandinavia, Lapland, Britain, Germany, and 
many other countries. "The fire - worshipers" had been 
taught by their fathers to worship the sun and the fire, as 
emblems of the god of the world. They ceased to look be- 
yond the emblem, and worshiped it as the real deity. In 
Mexico and Peru the Incas and priests claimed to be "chil- 
dren of the sun." But the Indians of North America have 
continued to look beyond the symbol to the being it repre- 
sented. They have never been idolaters. They have nev- 
,er worshiped the emblem in the place of the true deity. 
And still, in their figurative language, they often speak as 
if they considered the sun as their god. They often call 



RELIGION". 65 

themselves "children of the sun," as well as "souls made 
of fire," etc. The Indian warrior and orator Tecumseh, at 
the conclusion of a speech, was told that his "father," the 
Governor of Indiana, desired him to take a chair. He re- 
jected it with scorn. "My father!" said the indignant 
chief, throwing himself on the ground; "the sun is my fa- 
ther, and the earth is my mother, and I will repose npon 
her bosom !"* 

In evidence of what I have stated, I remark that Du 
Pratz found the Indians in the Mississippi Valley worship- 
ing a " great and most perfect Spirit, compared with whom 
all other things were as nothing, and by whom all things 
were made." 

Lewis and Clarke, fifty years ago, found the Indians in- 
habiting the Upper Missouri possessing a religious faith 
which consisted exclusively in a firm belief in the exist- 
ence of "one great Spirif who ruled the destinies of men. 

Eoger Williams expressed tbe conviction that if any 
white man doubted the existence of the God of the uni- 
verse, "the Indians could teach him." 

The venerable missionary Heckewelder, after forty years' 
residence among the Delawares, said that habitual devotion 
to the Supreme Being was one of the most prominent traits 
in the mind of the Eed Man. 

Kotwithstanding the high veneration that these people 
entertain for the Great Spirit, and the remarkable fact that 
among those I have known there is nothing in their vocab- 
ularies that enables them to give oral expression to an 
oath, yet, as strange as it may appear, the first expressions 
they learn after coming in contact with the white race are 
invariably those of profanity and obscenity, and this can 
only be accounted for from the fact that their earliest asso- 

* Theology of the American Indians, National Quarterly Review, June, 
18G3. 

F* 



66 CIVILIZATION. 

ciations among the whites are with unprincipled Indian 
traders and immoral frontiersmen, who teach them all our 
vices, and none of our virtues. 

Most of the Eastern tribes of Indians have, through the 
efforts of missionaries and philanthropists, been taught the 
rudiments of our revealed religion, and many of them have 
been worthy Christians, exercising a good influence over 
their red brethren. But thus far, no such efforts have ever 
been made to improve the moral or physical condition of 
the Comanches; no missionaries have, to my knowledge, 
ever visited them, and they have no more idea of Christian- 
ity than they have of the religion of Mohammed. We find 
dwelling almost at our doors as barbarous and heathenish 
a race as exists on the face of the earth ; and while our be- 
nevolent and philanthropic citizens are making such efforts 
to ameliorate the condition of savages in other countries, 
should we not do something for the benefit of these wild 
men of the prairies? Those dingy noblemen of nature, the 
original proprietors of all that vast domain included be- 
tween the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific, have been de- 
spoiled, supplanted, and robbed of their just and legitimate 
heritage by the avaricious and rapid encroachments of the 
lohite man. Numerous and powerful nations have already 
become exterminated by unjustifiable wars that he has 
waged with them, and by the effects of the vices he has in- 
troduced and inculcated ; and of those that remain, but few 
can be found who are not contaminated by the pernicious 
influences of unprincipled and designing adventurers. It 
is not at this late day in our power to atone for all the in- 
justice inflicted upon the Red Men; but it seems to me that 
a wise policy would dictate almost the only recompense it 
is now in our power to make — that of introducing among 
them the light of Christianity and the blessings of civiliza- 
tion, with their attendant benefits of agriculture and the 
arts. 



CIVILIZED WAKFARE. 67 



CHAPTER III. 

INDIAN WARFARE. 

Indian Warfare. — French Army in Algeria. — Turkish Method of Warfare. 
— Tracking Indians. — Telegraphing by Smokes. — Delawares, Shawnees, 
and Kickapoos. — Guides in the Great Desert. — The Khebir. — Delaware's 
Idea of the Compass. — Black Beaver. — Jealousy of his Wife. — Coman- 
che's Ideas of the Whites. — John Bushman. — Mamage Relations. — Jim 
Ned. — Great Horse-thief. — Comanche Law. — Juan Galvan. — Kickapoos 
good Hunters. — Respect for Law. 

The art of war, as taught and practiced among civilized 
nations at the present day, is no doubt well adapted to the 
purposes for which it was designed, viz., the operations of 
armies acting in populated districts, furnishing ample re- 
sources, and against an enemy who is tangible, and makes 
use of similar tactics and strategy. But the modern schools 
of military science are but illy suited to carrying on a war- 
fare with the wild tribes of the Plains. 

The vast expanse of desert territory that has been an- 
nexed to our domain within the last few years is peopled 
by numerous tribes of marauding and erratic savages, who 
are mounted upon fleet and 'hardy horses, making war the 
business and pastime of their lives, and acknowledging 
none of the ameliorating conventionalities of civilized war- 
fare. Their tactics are such as to render the old system al- 
most wholly impotent. 

To act against an enemy who is here to-day and there 
to-morrow ; who at one time stampedes a herd of mules 
upon the head waters of the Arkansas, and when next 
heard from is in the very heart of the populated districts 
of Mexico, laying waste haciendas, and carrying devasta- 



68 TRUE MILITARY POLICY. 

tion, rapine, and murder in his steps ; who is every where 
without being any where ; who assembles at the moment 
of combat, and vanishes whenever fortune turns against 
him ; who leaves his women and children far distant from 
the theatre of hostilities, and has neither towns nor maga- 
zines to defend, nor lines of retreat to cover; who derives 
his commissariat from the country he operates in, and is 
not encumbered with baggage-wagons or pack-trains ; who 
comes into action only when it suits his purpose, and never 
without the advantage of numbers or position — with such 
an enemy the strategic science of civilized nations loses 
much of its importance, and finds but rarely, and only in 
peculiar localities, an opportunity to be put in practice. 

Our little army, scattered as it has been over the vast 
area of our possessions, in small garrisons of one or two 
companies each, has seldom been in a situation to act suc- 
cessfully on the offensive against large numbers of these 
marauders, and has often been condemned to hold itself al- 
most exclusively upon the defensive. The morale of the 
troops must thereby necessarily be seriously impaired, and 
the confidence of the savages correspondingly augmented. 
The system of small garrisons has a tendency to disorganize 
the troops in proportion as they are scattered, and renders 
them correspondingly inefficient. The same results have 
been observed by the French army in Algeria, where, in 
1845, their troops were, like ours, disseminated over a vast 
space, and broken up into small detachments stationed in 
numero-us intrenched posts. Upon the sudden appearance 
of Abd el Kader in the plain of Mitidja, they were defeat- 
ed with serious losses, and -W-ere from day to day obliged 
to abandon these useless stations, with all the supplies they 
contained. A French writer, in discussing this subject, 
says: 

" "We have now abandoned the fatal idea of defending 



FRENCH IN ALGERIA. 69 

Algeria by small intrenched posts. In studying the char- 
acter of the war, the nature of the men who are to op- 
pose us, and of the country in which we are to operate, we 
must be convinced of the danger of admitting any other 
system of fortification than that which is to receive our 
grand depots, our magazines, and to serve as places to re- 
cruit and rest our troops when exhausted by long expedi- 
tionary movements, 

" These fortifications should be established in the midst 
of the centres of action, so as to command the principal 
routes, and serve as pivots to expeditionary columns. 

" We owe our success to a system of war which has its 
proofs in twice changing our relations with the Arabs. 
This system consists altogether . in the great mobility we 
have given to our troops. Instead of disseminating our 
soldiers with the vain hope of protecting our frontiers with 
a line of small posts, we have concentrated them, to have 
them at all times ready for emergencies, and since then the 
fortune of the Arabs has waned, and we have marched 
from victory to victory. 

" This system, which has thus far succeeded, ought to 
succeed always, and to conduct us, God willing, to the 
peaceful possession of the country." 

In reading a treatise upon war as it is practiced by the 
French in Algeria, by Colonel A. Laure, of the 2d Alge- 
rine Tirailleurs, published in Paris in 1858, 1 was struck 
with the remarkable similarity between the habits of the 
Arabs and those of the wandering tribes that inhabit our 
Western prairies. Their manner of making war is almost 
precisely the same,' and a successful system of strategic 
operations for one will, in my opinion, apply to the other. 

As the Turks have been more successful than the French 
in their military operations against the Arab tribes, it may 
not be altogether uninteresting to inquire by what means 



70 TURKISH SOLDIERS. 

these inferior soldiers have accomplished the best re- 
sults. 

The author above mentioned, in speaking upon this sub- 
ject, says : 

" In these latter days the world is occupied with the or- 
ganization of mounted infantry, according to the example 
of the Turks, where, in the most successful experiments 
that have been made, the mule carries the foot-soldier. 

" The Turkish soldier mounts his mule, puts his provi- 
sions upon one side and his accoutrements upon the other, 
and, thus equipped, sets out upon long marches, traveling 
day and night, and only reposing occasionally in bivouac. 
Arrived near the place of operations (as near the break of 
day as possible), the Turks dismount in the most profound 
silence, and pass in succession the bridle of one mule through 
that of another in such a manner that a single man is suffi- 
cient to hold forty or fifty of them by retaining the last 
bridle, which secures all the others ; they then examine 
their arms, and are ready to commence their work. The 
chief gives his last orders, posts his guides, and they make 
the attack, surprise the enemy, generally asleep, and carry 
the position without resistance. The operation terminated, 
they hasten to beat a retreat, to prevent the neighboring 
tribes from assembling, and thus avoid a combat. 

" The Turks had only three thousand mounted men and 
ten thousand infantry in Algeria, yet these thirteen thou- 
sand men sufficed to conquer the same obstacles which 
have arrested us for twenty-six years, notwithstanding the 
advantage we had of an army which was successively re- 
enforced until it amounted to a hundred thousand. 

" Why not imitate the Turks, then, mount our infantry 
upon mules, and reduce the strength of our army? 

"The response is very simple: 

" The Turks are Turks — that is to say, Mussulmans — 



ARABS. 71 

and indigenous to the country; the Turks speak the Arabic 
language ; the Deys of Algiers had less country to guard 
than we, and they care very little about retaining possession 
of it. They are satisfied to receive a part of its revenues. 
They were not permanent ; their dominion was held by a 
thread. The Arab dwells in tents; his magazines are in 
caves. When he starts upon a war expedition, he folds 
his tent, drives far away his beasts of burden, which trans- 
port his effects, and only carries with him his horse and 
arms. Thus equipped, he goes every where ; nothing ar- 
rests him; and often, when we believe him twenty leagues 
distant, he is in ambush at precisely rifle range from the 
flanks of his enemy. 

"It may be thought the union of contingents might re- 
tard their movements, but this is not so. The Arabs, wheth- 
er they number ten or a hundred thousand, move with 
equal facility. They go where they wish and as they wish 
upon a campaign ; the place of rendezvous merely is indi- 
cated, and they arrive there. 

" What calculations can be made against such an organi- 
zation as this ? 

"Strategy evidently loses its advantages against such 
enemies ; a general can only make conjectures ; he marches 
to find the Arabs, and finds them not ; then, again, when 
he least expects it, he suddenly encounters them. 

" When the Arab despairs of success in battle, he places 
his sole reliance upon the speed of his horse to escape de- 
struction •, and as he is always in a country where he can 
make his camp beside a little water, he travels until he has 
placed a safe distance between himself and his enemy." 

TRACKING INDIANS. 

When an Indian sentinel intends to watch for an enemy 
approaching from the rear, he selects the highest position 



72 ' TRAILING INDIANS. 

available, and places himself near the summit in such an 
attitude that his entire body shall be concealed from the 
observation of any one in the rear, his head only being ex- 
posed above the top of the eminence. Here he awaits with 
great patience so long as he thinks there is any possibility 
of danger, and it will be difficult for an enemy to surprise 
him or to elude his keen and scrutinizing vigilance. Mean- 
while his horse is secured under the screen of the hill, all 
ready when required. Hence it will be evident that, in 
following Indian depredators, the utmost vigilance and cau- 
tion must be exercised to conceal from them the movements 
of their pursuers. They are the best scouts in the world, 
proficient in all the artifices and stratagems available in bor- 
der warfare, and when hotly pursued by a superior force, 
after exhausting all other means of evasion, they scatter in 
different directions ; and if, in a broken or mountainous 
country, they can do no better, abandon their horses and 
baggage, and take refuge in the rocks, gorges, or other hid- 
ing-places. This plan has several times been resorted to 
by Indians in Texas when surprised, and, notwithstanding 
their pursuers were directly upon them, the majority made 
their escape, leaving behind all their animals and other 
property. 

For overtaking a marauding party of Indians who have 
advanced eight or ten hours before the pursuing party are 
in readiness to take the trail, it is not best to push forward 
rapidly at first, as this will weary and break down horses. 
The Indians must be supposed to have at least fifty or sixty 
miles the start ; it will, therefore, be useless to think of over- 
taking them without providing for a long chase. Scouts 
should continually be kept out in front upon the trail to re- 
connoitre and give preconcerted signals to the main party 
when the Indians are espied. 

In approaching all eminences or undulations in the prai- 



INDIAN FIGHTING. 73 

ries, the commander should be careful not to allow any con- 
siderable number of his men to pass upon the summits un- 
til the country around has been carefully reconnoitred by 
the scouts, who will cautiously raise their eyes above the 
crests of the most elevated points, making a scrutinizing 
examination in all directions ; and, while doing this, should 
an Indian be encountered who has been left behind as a 
sentinel, he must, if possible, be secured or shot, to prevent 
his giving the alarm to his comrades. These precautions 
can not be too rigidly enforced when the trail becomes 
" warm ;" and if there be a moon, it will be better to lie by 
in the daytime and follow the trail at night, as the great 
object is to come upon the Indians when they are not an- 
ticipating an attack. Such surprises, if discreetly conduct- 
ed, generally prove successful. 

As soon as the Indians are discovered in their bivouac, 
the pursuing party should dismount, leave their horses un- 
der charge of a guard in some sequestered place, and, be- 
fore advancing to the attack, the men should be instructed 
in signals for their different movements, such as all will 
easily comprehend and remember. As, for example, a pull 
upon the right arm may signify to face to the right, and a 
pull upon the left arm to face to the left ; a pull upon the 
skirt of the coat, to halt ; a gentle push on the back, to ad- 
vance in ordinary time ; a slap on the back, to advance in 
double quick time, etc., etc. 

These signals, having been previously well understood 
and practiced, may be given by the commander to the man 
next to him, and from him communicated in rapid succes- 
sion throughout the command. 

I will suppose the party formed in one rank, with the 

commander on the right. He gives the signal, and the 

men move off cautiously in the direction indicated. The 

importance of not losing sight of his comrades on his right 

G 



74 INDIAN FIGHTING. 

and left, and of not allowing them to get out of his reach, 
so as to break the chain of communication, will be apparent 
to all, and great care should be taken that the men do not 
mistake their brothers in arms for the enemy. This may 
be prevented by having two pass-tvords, and when there be 
any doubt as to the identity of two men who meet during 
the night operations, one of these words may be repeated 
by each. Above all, the men must be fully impressed with 
the importance of not firing a shot until the order is given 
by the commanding officer, and also that a rigorous person- 
al accountability will be enforced in all cases of a violation 
of this rule. 

If the commander gives the signal for commencing the 
attack by firing a pistol or gun, there will probably be no 
mistake, unless it happens through carelessness by the acci- 
dental discharge of fire-arms. 

I can conceive of nothing more appalling, or that tends 
more to throw men off their guard and produce confusion, 
than a sudden and unexpected night-attack. Even the In- 
dians, who pride themselves upon their coolness and self- 
possession, are far from being exempt from its effects ; and 
it is not surprising that men who go to sleep with a sense 
of perfect security around them, and are suddenly aroused 
from a deep slumber by the terrific sounds of an onslaught 
from an enemy, should lose their presence of mind. 

TELEGRAPHING BY SMOKES. 

The transparency of the atmosphere upon the Plains is 
such that objects can be seen at great distances; a mount- 
ain, fpr example, presents a distinct and bold outline at fifty 
or sixty miles, and may occasionally be seen as far as a 
hundred miles. 

The Indians, availing themselves of this fact, have been 
in the habit of practicing a system of telegraphing by 



TELEGRAPHING. 75 

means of smokes during the day and fires by night, and, I 
dare say, there are but few travelers who have crossed the 
mountains to Cahfornia that have not seen these signals 
made and responded to from peak to peak in rapid succes- 
sion. 

The Indians thus make known to their friends many 
items of information highly important to them. If enemies 
or strangers make their appearance in the country, the fact 
is telegraphed at once, giving them time to secure their ani- 
mals, and to prepare for attack, defense, or flight. 

War or hunting parties, after having been absent a long 
time from their erratic friends at home, and not knowinsr 
where to find them, make use of the same preconcerted sig- 
nals to indicate their presence. 

Yery dense smokes may be raised by kindling a large 
fire with dry wood, and piling upon it the green boughs of 
pine, balsam, or hemlock. This throws off a heavy cloud 
of black smoke which can be seen very far. 

This simple method of telegraphing, so useful to the sav- 
ages both in war and in peace, may, in my judgment, be 
used to advantage in the movements of troops co-operating 
in separate columns in the Indian country. 

I shall not attempt at this time to present a matured sys- 
tem of signals, but will merely give a few suggestions tend- 
ing to illustrate the advantages to be derived from the use 
of them. 

For example, when two columns are marching through 
a country at such distances apart that smokes may be seen 
from one to the other, their respective positions may be 
made known to each other at any time by two smokes 
raised simultaneously or at certain preconcerted intervals. 

Should the commander of one column desire to commu- 
nicate with the other, he raises three smokes simultaneous- 
ly, which, if seen by the other party, should be responded 



76 SIGNALS. 

to in tlie same manner. They would then hold themselves 
in readiness for any other communications. 

If an enemy is discovered in small numbers, a smoke 
raised twice at fifteen minutes' interval would indicate it ; 
and if in large force, three times with the same intervals 
might be the signal. 

Should the commander of one party desire the other to 
join him, this might be telegraphed by four smokes at ten 
minutes' interval. 

Should it become necessary to change the direction of 
the line of march, the commander may transmit the order 
by means of two simultaneous smokes raised a certain 
number of times to indicate the particular direction ; for 
instance, twice for north, three times for south, four times 
for east, and five times for west ; three smokes raised twice 
for northeast, three times for northwest, etc., etc. 

By multiplying the combinations of signals a great vari- 
ety of messages might be transmitted in this manner ; but, 
to avoid mistakes, the signals should be written down and 
copies furnished the commander of each separate party, 
and they need not necessarily be made known to other per- 
sons. 

During the day an intelligent man should be detailed to 
keep a vigilant look-out in all directions for smokes, and 
he should be furnished with a watch, pencil, and paper, to 
make a record of the signals, with their number, and the 
time of the interval between them. 

DELAWARES, SHAWNEES, AND KICKAPOOS. 

It is highly important that parties making expeditions 
through an unexplored country should secure the services 
of the best guides and hunters, and I know of none who 
are superior to the Delawares and Shawnee Indians. They 
have been with me upon several different occasions, and I 



KHEBIRS. 77 

liave invariably found them intelligent, brave, reliable, and 
in every respect well qualified to fill their positions. They 
are endowed with those keen and wonderful powers in 
woodcraft which can only be acquired by instinct, practice, 
and necessity, and which are possessed by no other people 
that I have heard of, unless it be the khebirs or guides who 
escort the caravans across the great desert of Sahara. 

General E. Dumas, in his treatise tipon the " Great. Des- 
ert," published in Paris, 1866, in speaking of these guides, 
says: 

" The khebir is always a man of intelligence, of tried 
probity, bravery, and skill. He knows how to determine 
his position from the appearance of the stars ; by the expe- 
rience of other journeys he has learned all about the roads, 
wells, and pastures ; the dangers of certain passes, and the 
means of avoiding them ; all the chiefs whose territories it 
is necessary to pass through ; the salubrity of the different 
localities ; the remedies against diseases ; the treatment of 
fractures, and the antidotes to the venom of snakes and 
scorpions. 

" In these vast solitudes, where nothing seems to indi- 
cate the route, where the wind covers up all traces of the 
track with sand, the khebir has a thousand ways of direct- 
ing himself in the right course. In the night, when there 
are no stars in sight, by the simple inspection of a handful 
of grass, which he examines with his fingers, which he 
smells and tastes, he informs himself of his locale without 
ever being lost or wandering. 

"I saw with astonishment that our conductor, although 
he had but one eye, and that defective, recognized perfectly 
the route ; and Leon, the African, states that the conductor 
of his caravan became blind upon the journey from oph- 
thalmia, yet by feeling the grass and sand he could tell 
when we were approaching an inhabited place. 

G* 



78 DELAWARES. 

"Our guide had all the qualities which make a good 
khebir. He was young, large, and strong ; he was a mas- 
ter of arms; his eye commanded respect, and his speech 
won the heart. But if in the tent he was affable and win- 
ning, once en route he spoke only when it was necessary, 
and never smiled." 

The Delawares are but a minute remnant of the great 
Algonquin family, whose early traditions declare them to 
be the parent stock from which the other numerous branch- 
es of the Algonquin tribes originated. And they are the 
same people whom the first white settlers found so numer- 
ous upon the banks of the Delaware. 

When William Penn held his council with the Delawares 
upon the ground where the city of Philadelphia now stands, 
they were as peaceful and unwarlike in their habits as the 
Quakers themselves. They had been subjugated by the 
Five Nations, forced to take the appellation of squaws, and 
forego the use of arms ; but after they moved West, beyond 
the influence of their former masters, their naturally inde- 
pendent spirit revived, they soon regained their lofty posi- 
tion as braves and warriors, and the male squaws of the 
Iroquois soon became formidable men and heroes, and so 
have continued to the present day. Their war-path has 
reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean on the west, Hud- 
son's Bay on the north, and into the very heart of Mexico 
on the south. 

They are not clannish in their dispositions like most oth- 
er Indians, nor by their habits confined to any given local- 
ity, but are found as traders, trappers, or hunters among 
most of the Indian tribes inhabiting our continent. I even 
saw them living with the Mormons in Utah. They are 
among the Indians as the Jews among the whites, essential- 
ly wanderers. 

The Shawnees have been associated with the Delawares 



THE COMPASS. 79 

185 years. They intermarry and live as one people. Their 
present places of abode are upon the Missouri Eiver, near 
Fort Leavenworth, and in the Choctaw Territory, upon the 
Canadian Eiver, near Fort Arbuckle. They are familiar 
with many of the habits and customs of their pale - faced 
neighbors, and some of them speak the English language, 
yet many of their native characteristics tenaciously cling to 
them. 

Upon one occasion I endeavored to teach a Delaware the 
use of the compass. He seemed much interested in its 
mechanism, and very attentively observed the oscillations 
of the needle. He would move away a short distance, then 
return, keeping his eyes continually fixed upon the needle 
and the uniform position into which it settled. He did not, 
however, seem to comprehend it in the least, but regarded 
the entire proceeding as a species of necromantic perform- 
ance got up for his especial benefit, and I was about put- 
ting away the instrument when he motioned me to stop, 
and came walking toward it with a very serious but incred- 
ulous countenance, remarking, as he pointed his finger to- 
ward it, "Maybe so he tell lie sometime." 

BLACK BEAVER. 

In 1849 I met with a very interesting specimen of the 
Delaware tribe whose name was Black Beaver. He had for 
ten years been in the employ of the American Fur Com- 
pany, and during this time had visited nearly every point 
of interest within the limits of our unsettled territory. He 
had set his traps and spread his blanket upon the head wa- 
ters of the Missouri and Columbia ; and his wanderinsrs had 
led him south to the Colorado and Gila, and thence to the 
shores of the Pacific in Southern California. His life had 
been that of a veritable cosmopolite, filled with scenes of 
intense and startling interest, bold and reckless adventure. 



80 DELAWARE CHARGE. 

He was with me two seasons in the capacity of guide, and 
I always found him perfectly reliable, brave, and compe- 
tent. His reputation as a resolute, determined, and fearless 
warrior did not admit of question, yet I have never seen a 
man who wore his laurels with less vanity. 

When I first made his acquaintance I was puzzled to 
know what to think of him. He would often, in speaking 
of the prairie Indians, say to me, 

" Captain, if you have a fight, you mustn't count much 
on me, for I'ze a big coward. When the fight begins I 
'spect you'll see me run under the cannon; Injun mighty 
'fraid of big gun." 

I expressed my surprise that he should, if what he told 
me was true, have gained such a reputation as a warrior ; 
whereupon he informed me that many years previous, when 
he was a young man, and before he had ever been in battle, 
he, with about twenty white men and four Delawares, were 
at one of the Fur Company's trading-posts upon the Upper 
Missouri, engaged in trapping beaver. While there, the 
stockade fort was attacked by a numerous band of Black- 
feet Indians, who fought bravely, and seemed determined to 
annihilate the little band that defended it. 

After the investment had been completed, and there ap- 
peared no probability of the attacking party's abandoning 
their purpose, " One d — d fool Delaware" (as Black Beaver 
expressed it) proposed to his countrymen to make a sortie, 
and thereby endeavor to effect an impression upon the 
Blackfeet. This, Beaver said, was the last thing he would 
ever have thought of suggesting, and it startled him prodig- 
iously, causing him to trehible so much that it was with 
difficulty he could stand. 

He had, however, started from home with the fixed pur- 
pose of becoming a distinguished brave, and made a great 
effort to stifle his emotion. He assumed an air of determ- 



A BRAVE MAN. 81 

ination, saying that was tlie very idea lie was just about to 
propose ; and, slapping his comrades upon the back, started 
toward the gate, telling them to follow. As soon as the 
gate was passed, he says, he took particular care to keep in 
the rear of the others, so that, in the event of a retreat, he 
would be able to reach the stockade first. 

They had not proceeded far before a perfect shower of 
arrows came falling around them on all sides, but fortu- 
nately without doing them harm. Not fancying this hot 
reception, those in front proposed an immediate retreat, to 
which he most gladly acceded, and at once set ofi" at his ut- 
most speed, expecting to reach the fort first. But he soon 
discovered that his comrades were more fleet, and were 
rapidly passing and leaving him behind. Suddenly he 
stopped and called out to them, "Come back here, you 
cowards, you squaws; what for you run away and leave 
brave man to fight alone ?" This taunting appeal to their 
courage turned them back, and, with their united efforts, 
they succeeded in beating off the enemy immediately 
around them, securing their entrance into the fort. 

Beaver says when the gate was, closed the captain in 
charge of the establishment grasped him warmly by the 
hand, saying, "Black Beaver, you are a brave man; you 
have done this day what no other man in the fort would 
have the courage to do, and I thank you from the bottom 
of my heart." 

In relating the circumstance to me he laughed most 
heartily, thinking it a very good joke, and said after that 
he was regarded as a brave warrior. 

The truth is, my friend Beaver was one of those few he- 
roes who never sounded his own trumpet ; yet no one that 
knows him ever presumed to question his courage. 

At another time, while Black Beaver remained upon the- 
head waters of the Missouri, he was left in charge of a 



82 BLACK BEAVER. 

'■^cache^'' consisting of a quantity of goods buried to prevent 
their being stolen by the Indians. During the time he was 
engaged upon this duty he amused himself by hunting in 
the vicinity, only visiting his charge once a day. As he 
was making one of these periodical visits, and had arrived 
upon the summit of a hill overlooking the locality, he sud- 
denly discovered a large number of hostile Blackfeet occu- 
pying it, and he supposed they had appropriated all the 
goods. As soon as they espied him, they beckoned for him 
to come down and have a friendly chat with them. 

Knowing that their purpose was to beguile him into their 
power, he replied that he did not feel in a talking humor 
just at that time, and started off in another direction, where- 
upon they hallooed after him, making use of the most in- 
sulting language and gestures, and asking him if he consid- 
ered himself a man thus to run away from his friends, and 
intimating that, in their opinion, he was an old woman, who 
had better go home and take care of the children. 

Beaver says this roused his indignation to such a pitch 
that he stopped, turned around, and replied, "Maybe so; 
s'pose three or four of you Injuns come up here alone, I'll 
show you if I'ze old womans." They did not, however, ac- 
cept the challenge, and Beaver rode off. 

Although the Delawares generally seem quite happy in 
their social relations, yet they are not altogether exempt 
from some of those minor discords which occasionally creep 
in and mar the domestic harmony of their more civilized 
pale-faced brethren. 

I remember, upon one occasion, I had bivouacked for the 
night with Black Beaver, and he had been endeavoring to 
while away the long hours of the evening by relating to me 
some of the most thrilling incidents of his highly adventur- 
ous /md erratic life, when at length a hiatus in the conver- 
sation gave me an opportunity of asking him if he was a 



A JEALOUS WIFE. 83 

married man. He hesitated for some time; then looking 
up and giving his forefinger a twirl, to imitate the throwing 
of a lasso, replied, " One time me catch 'um wife. I pay 
that woman, Ms modeler^ one hoss — one saddle — one bridle 
— two plug tobacco, and plenty goods. I take him home 
to my house — got plenty meat — plenty corn — plenty every 
thing. One time me go take walk, maybe so three, maybe 
so two hours. When I come home, that woman he say, 
'Black Beaver, what for you go way long time?'. I say, 
'I nut go nowhere ; I just take one littel walk.' Then that 
woman he get heap mad, and say, ' No, Black Beavei", 3'ou 
not take no littel walk. I know what for you go way; 
you go see nodder one woman.'' I say, ' Maybe not.' Then 
that woman she cry long time, and all e'time now she mad. 
You never seen 'Merican woman that a- way ?" 

I sympathized most deeply with my friend in his distress, 
and told him for his consolation that, in my opinion, the 
women of his nation were not peculiar in this respect ; that 
they were pretty much alike all over the world, and I was 
under the impression that there were well-authenticated in- 
stances even among white women where they had subject- 
ed themselves to the same causes of complaint so feelingly 
depicted by him. Whereupon he very earnestly asked, 
"What you do for cure him? Whip him?" I replied, 
No; that, so far as my observation extended,! was under 
the impression that this was generally regarded by those 
who had suffered from its effects as one of those chronic 
and vexatious complaints which would not be benefited by 
the treatment he suggested, even when administered in 
homoeopathic doses, and I believed it was now admitted by 
all sensible men that it was better in all such cases to let 
nature take its course, trusting to a merciful Providence. 

At this reply his countenance assumed a dejected ex- 
pression, but at length he brightened up again and triumph- 



84 COMANCHE INCKEDULITY. 

antly remarked, " I tell you, my friend, what I do ; I ketch 
'um nodder one wife when I go home." 

Black Beaver had visited St. Louis and the small towns 
upon the Missouri frontier, and he prided himself not a lit- 
tle upon his acquaintance with the customs of the whites, 
and never seemed more happy than when an opportunity 
offered to display this knowledge in presence of his Indian 
companions. It so happened, upon one occasion, that I had 
a Comanche guide who bivouacked at the same fire with 
Beaver. On visiting them one evening according to my 
usual practice, I found them engaged in a very earnest and 
apparently not very amicable conversation. On inquiring 
the cause of this, Beaver answered, " I've been telling this 
Comanche what I seen 'mong the white folks." 

I said, "Well, Beaver, what did you tell him ?" ■ 

"I tell him 'bout the steam -boats, and the rail-roads, and 
the heap o' houses I seen in St. Louis." 

"Well, sir, what does he think of that?" 

"He say I'ze d—d fool." 

"What else did you tell him about?" 

"I tell him the world is round, but he keep all e'time 
say, ' Hush, you fool ! do yous 'pose I'ze child. Haven't I 
got eyes? Can't I see the prairie? You call him round?' 
He say, too, ' Maybe so I tell you something you not know 
before. One time my grandfather he make long journey 
that way (pointing to the west). When he get on big 
mountain, he seen heap water on t'other side, jest so flat he 
can be, and he seen the sun go straight down on t'other 
side.' I then tell him all the serivers he seen, all e'time the 
water he run; s'pose the, world flat, the water he stand 
still. Maybe so he not b'lieve me?" 

I told him it certainly looked very much like it. I then 
asked him to explain to the Comanche the magnetic tele- 
graph. He looked at me earnestly, and said, 



JOHN BUSHMAN, 85 

"What you call that magnetic telegraph?" 

I said, " You have heard of New York and New Or- 
leans ?" 

" Oh yes," he replied. 

"Very well ; we have a wire connecting these two cities, 
which are about a thousand miles apart, and it would take 
a man thirty days to ride it upon a good horse. Now a 
man stands at one end of this wire in New York, and by 
touching it a few times he inquires of his friend in New 
Orleans what he had for breakfast. His friend in New Or- 
leans touches the other end of the wire, and in ten minutes 
the answer comes back — ham and eggs. Tell him that, 
Beaver." 

His countenance assumed a most comical expression, but 
lie made no remark until I again requested him to repeat 
what I had said to the Comanche, when he observed, 

"No, captain, I not tell him that, for I don't b'lieve that 
myself." 

Upon my assuring him tliat sucli was tke fact, and that I 
had seen it myself, he said, 

"Injun not very smart; sometimes he's big fool, but he 
holler pretty loud; you hear him maybe half a mile; you 
say 'Merican man he talk thousand miles. I 'spect you try 
to fool me now, captain ; maybe so you liey 

JOHN BUSHMAN. 

Previous to my departure from Fort Washita upon my 
Red River expedition, I employed five Delawares and Shaw- 
nees as guides and hunters. One of them, by the name of 
John Bushman, who could speak English and Comanche 
fluently, was constituted interpreter and the head man of 
the Indians. 

I directed him to tell his comrades that I proposed to 

pay each of tliem one dollar per day during the time we 

H 



86 A QUESTION OF WAGES. 

should be absent. With this all seemed to be satisfied, and 
I supposed every thing was arranged to suit them ; but it 
seemed that Bushman had conversed with Black Beaver 
upon the subject previous to leaving home, and Beaver had 
informed him that he had received from me two dollars and 
a half per day, and suggested to John that he would prob- 
ably get the same compensation for his services. I was 
not advised of this, however, and supposed he would only 
expect the same pay as the other Indians, until one day, 
after he had acted as interpreter for me with a party of 
prairie Indians who had visited our camp, he came to me 
and said, "You not tell me yet, captain, how much you 
goin' give me." 

I replied that I had stated to him distinctly before leav- 
ing Fort Washita that each Delaware would receive one 
dollar a day. He answered, 

"I no understand um that-a-way, captain. Black Bea- 
ver he say maybe so give um two dollar half one day." 

I told him Black Beaver was not authorized to make 
contracts for me ; moreover, I added, a dollar a day was 
good pay, but in consideration of his acting as interpreter, 
I would allow him an additional per diem of half a dollar, 
which was more than he had any right to expect; that I 
was disposed to compensate him liberally, but that the gov- 
ernment had no money to throw away by paying three 
prices for a thing. 

John acquiesced in this decision, but in a very surly 
mood, and did not recover his usual spirits for some days. 
At length, however, he seemed to be content, and on our 
return to Fort Arbuckle, after I had settled with him, and 
as he was about leaving for his home, I said to him, 
" Well, John, you are going home now. In case I make 
another expedition into the Plains, would you like to ac- 
company mc?" " No," he replied, very abruptly. "And 



FOLLOWING A TRAIL, 87 

why not, pray ?" " Because that government he hain't got 
no money to throw away." 

John Bushman had acted as interpreter for me at Fort 
Arbuckle, when I first established that post, and he was a 
true specimen of the Indian type — dignified, reserved, and 
taciturn, self-reliant, independent, and fearless. 

He was a man of eminently determinate and resolute 
character, with great powers of endurance, and a most acute 
and vigilant observer, distinguished by prominent powers 
of locality and sound judgment. These traits of character, 
with the abundant experience he had upon the Plains, made 
him one of the very best guides I ever met with. He 
never sees a place once without instantly recognizing it on 
seeing it the second time, notwithstanding he may ap- 
proach it from a different direction ; and the very moment 
he takes a glance over a district of country he has never 
seen before, he will almost iavariably point out the partic- 
ular localities (if there are any, such) where water can be 
found, when to others there seems nothing to indicate it. 

An incident which was related to me as occurring with 
one of these guides a few years since, forcibly illustrates 
their character. The officer having charge of the party to 
which he was attached sent him out to examine a trail he 
had met with on the prairie, for the purpose of ascertaining 
where it would lead to. The guide, after following it as far 
as he supposed he would be required to do, returned and 
reported that it led off into the prairie to no particular 
place, so far as he could discover. He was told that this 
was not satisfactory, and directed to take the trail again, 
and to follow it until he gained the required information. 
He accordingly went out the second time, but did not re- 
turn that day, nor the next, and the party, after a time, be- 
gan to be alarmed for his safety, fearing he might have 
been killed by the Indians. Days and weeks passed by, 



88 EASY DIVORCE. 

but still nothing was heard of the guide, until, on arriving 
at the first border settlement, to their astonishment, he 
made his appearance among them, and, approaching the 
commanding officer, said, "Captain, that trail which you or- 
dered me to follow terminates here." He had, with indom- 
itable and resolute energy, traversed alone several hund- 
red miles of wild and desolate prairie, with nothing but his 
gun to depend upon for a subsistence, determined this time 
to carry out the instructions of his employer to the letter. 

John Bushman had been married for many years, and 
had several children when I first met him, but his wife 
was getting in years, and he resolved to provide himself 
with a younger companion. Accordingly, he one day intro- 
duced into his household a young Mrs. Bushman, which pro- 
ceeding very much exasperated the elder matron. Shortly 
after this innovation upon his domestic relations, I called 
at his cabin, and, observing the two squaws looking very 
demure and sad, I asked John what the trouble was. He 
replied, pointing to the elder, " That woman, he mad." 
Then, turning toward the other, he said, "That one he mad 
too, captain." 

The day following the elder wife took her children, and 
left John to enjoy his honeymoon without farther molest- 
ation. 

The marriage contract among the Delawares and Shaw- 
nees, it appears, is only binding so long as it suits the con- 
venience and wishes of the parties. It can be revoked at 
any time when either party feels disposed ; and a woman 
who leaves her husband is authorized by their laws to 
take with her all the persotial property which she possessed 
at the date of the marriage. It can not be alienated, and 
her husband does not acquire the slightest claim upon it. 

This law of property, I think, is a very just and wise pro- 
vision, because it makes the woman somewhat independent 



JIM NED. 89 

of her husband, and, no doubt, frequently deters a tyran- 
nical man from maltreating his wife. In the instance al- 
luded to, Bushman's wife carried away all the horses be- 
longing to the family, as they were her property. 

JIM NED. 

This somewhat remarkable specimen of humanity is a 
Delaware, united with a slight admixture of the African. 
He had a Delaware wife, and adopted the habits of that 
tribe, but at the same time he possessed all the social vivac- 
ity and garrulity of the negro. He was, however, exceed- 
ingly sensitive upon the subject of the African element in 
his composition, and resorted to a variety of expedients to 
conceal it from strangers, one of which was by shaving off" 
his kinky locks, and keeping his head continually covered 
with a shawl " a la Turk." 

When I first met Jim in 1849, he had the reputation of 
being one of the most expert, daring, and successful horse- 
thieves among the southwestern tribes. The theatre of his 
exploits was not confined to our territory, but his forays 
often extended into Mexico, and it was seldom that he re- 
turned empty-handed. 

Although he was generous and hospitable in his disposi- 
tion, yet he was eminently vindictive and revengeful to- 
ward those who interfered with his favorite pursuit, and it 
was said that several of his tribe had with their lives paid 
the penalty of incurring his displeasure. 

My friend Black Beaver used to talk to me a great deal 
about this noted freebooter, but was very far from being 
prepossessed in his favor. They had, it seems, upon a cer- 
tain occasion, a difficulty which came near resulting in a 
serious quarrel. Jim, no doubt thinking that his antece- 
dents were of a character to deter any one who knew him 
from voluntarily placing himself in a hostile attitude to- 



H 



* 



90 UNFAITHFULNESS PUNISHED. 

ward him, remarked to Beaver, in the course of the discus- 
sion that ensued, " I suppose, sir, you've heard of one Dela- 
ware man that people call Jim Nedf To which Beaver 
replied "that he had several times heard of the individual 
named." 

"Very well," Jim said. "Have you not also heard that 
when a man incurs his displeasure, the climate becomes 
very sickly for him, and that he does not generally live 
long after it?" 

Beaver was no coward, and, knowing the fact of the oth- 
er's sensitive disposition, he replied, " I'ze not very rich In- 
dian just now ; I hazn't got much money, but maybe so 
I'ze got enough to pay for one d — d nigger, s'poze I kill 
him." 

Jim Ned had been a great deal among the wild tribes of 
the Plains, and was familiar with many of their customs 
and peculiarities. He was with me for several weeks in 
1854, and related to me several incidents in his life, which 
interested me not a little. 

As we were sitting by our camp-fire one evening, he 
asked me if I knew how the prairie Indians punished an 
incontinent wife. I replied that I did not, unless it was by 
cutting off an ear, or the end of her nose. He then related 
to me the following incident, which came under his own 
observation. 

Some years before, it appeared, he had been the guest of 
a Comanche chief, who was encamped with his band near 
the head waters of the Brazos. This chief was possessed 
of large herds of horses, that were tended and cared for by 
some six or eight wives of various ages, from eighteen to 
fifty. 

During Jim's visit, one of the youngest and most attract- 
ive of these damsels was prevailed upon by a young brave 
to leave her lord, and elope with him upon a war expedi- 



JUAN GALVAN. 91 

tion into Mexico. Tlie old chief expressed much indigna- 
tion toward his truant spouse and her lover, and threatened 
all manner of punishments on their return. Time passed 
by, and in the course of about two months the pair returned 
to the encampment. The chief soon learned that they were 
there, and on the following morning, just before daybreak, 
awoke Jim Ned, saying to him, "Get up, my friend ; I want 
you to see a specimen of Comanche law." He was dressed 
in his full war costume, with his face painted in various 
fanciful colors, and his horse saddled at the door of his 
lodge. He seated himself near Jim, lighted his pipe, and, 
pulling several whiffs, passed it to him, after which he took 
his lance, mounted his horse, and rode out into the camp, 
and in a short time returned with his truant companion 
behind him. 

They dismounted before the lodge, and he told the wom- 
an to sit down in a place which he designated ; then, load- 
ing his rifle, he approached her, and directed her to cross 
her feet one above the other. When this was done, he 
placed the muzzle of his gun directly over them and fired, 
the ball passing though the centre of both feet. " Now," 
he said, "run away again if you like." The friends of the 
woman then approached and carried her off. This, Jim 
says, is Comanche law. 

JUAN GALVAN. 

While I was serving in Southern Texas, on the borders 
of Mexico, I became acquainted with an interesting speci- 
men of the primitive inhabitants of that wild and sterile 
region. 

He was a Mexican, by the name of Juan Galvan, who 
had passed all his life (about fifty years) upon a ranch near 
Lerado, on the Eio Grande. 

He had often been attacked and robbed by the prairie 



92 A CUNNING TKICK. 

Indians, wBo, even as late as 1854, when I was tliere, would 
occasionally make raids upon the country. 

Galvan was regarded as one of the best guides in the 
country. He understood all the mysteries of trailing and 
"signs" perfectly, and was often employed as guide for par- 
ties of troops sent out on scouts in pursuit of Indians. He 
was a brave man, and wore the scars of many battles in 
which he had been engaged against the savages. 

He related to me several interesting adventures in his 
experience, which forcibly illustrated the habits and peculi- 
arities of the Indian race. 

Among others, he told me that he was, some years be- 
fore, with a command of our troops in pursuit of and upon 
a fresh trail of Indians, when, as they entered a dense thick- 
et of chaparral bordering an arroya, they suddenly came 
upon the enemy prepared to give battle. 

Our men immediately made the attack, and charged into 
the chajDarral. Galvan fired at an Indian who, a moment 
before, had discharged his gun at him, and his shot took 
effect, as he supposed, for the Indian fell upon the ground 
uttering the most pitiful groans. He did not stop to give 
him another shot, supposing he had received his death- 
wound, but pushed on to give battle to others. 

When he had passed on about one hundred yards, how- 
ever, much to his astonishment up jumped the identical 
savage, slapping his chest, and in a most triumphant tone 
crying out in Spanish, " Nada, nada, nada! Bueno, bueno, 
bueno !" (Nothing, nothing, nothing ! Good, good, good !) 
and at the same time he fired his gun at him, which, it ap- 
peared, he had loaded while in the act of playing the part 
of the dead Indian. 

At another time Galvan was out with Lieutenant Hud- 
son and a detachment of our soldiers upon the trail of a 
party of Comanches, whom they overtook in an arroya. 



KICKAPOOS. 93 

The Indians, seeing there was no chance for escape, scat- 
tered, took cover, and commenced fighting. In a short time 
they espied the lieutenant, and cried out in Spanish, " Mira ! 
mira ! curahoe capitano Americano" (looli ! look ! d — d 
American captain) ; and immediately several of them seem- 
ed determined to kill him. One approached him very close, 
and discharged several arrows at him, when the lieutenant 
ran up and seized him by the hair of the head, and attempt- 
ed to cut him down with his sabre, but unfortunately the 
arm was so dull that he was unable to inflict much injury 
upon him, and the savage turned upon him with an arrow, 
and stabbed him so severely that he died in a few days. 

KICKAPOO INDIANS. 

This minute fraction of what was once a formidable tribe 
of Indians is now reduced to a very few wamiors, a portion 
of whom, in 1854, lived upon the Choctaw reservation near 
the Witchita Eiver, 

They, like the Delawares and Shawnees, are well armed 
with good rifles, in the use of which they are very expert, 
and there are no better hunters or warriors upon the bor- 
ders. They hunt altogether on horseback, and after a par- 
ty of them have passed through a section of country, it is 
seldom that any game is left in their trace. 

They are intelligent, active, and brave, and frequently 
visit and traf&c with the prairie Indians, and have no fears 
of meeting these people in battle, provided the odds are not 
more than six to one against them. 

The manner 'in which they execute justice upon their 
own people who have been guilty of infractions of their 
laws is shown in the following case of the murder of the 
Comanche agent, Colonel Stem, and another man, who were 
traveling together near Fort Belknap in 1853. 

They were within about ten miles of the fort when they 



94 MURDER PUNISHED. 

were fired upon by two Indians, who missed them, but im- 
mediately attacked with their rifles clubbed and beat them 
to death. 

The murderers made their escape, and no clew could be 
obtained of them for a long time, until at length the com- 
manding officer of Fort Belknap received information that 
induced him to believe the perpetrators of the deed were 
Kickapoos, living near Fort Arbuckle. Accordingly, he 
sent an officer to that post, and the chief of the Kickapoos 
was called in, and told that there were good reasons for be- 
lievinfij that some of his band had committed the act. He 
was then told that those persons must be given up to our 
authorities, and, if they attempted to escape, they must be 
shot down, and evidence of their identity brought to the 
fort. 

The chief replied that their head men had been in coun- 
cil upon the same subject all the previous night, and that 
they had taken the matter into very serious consideration. 
The facts had been reported by a boy who was in company 
with the Indians when the deed was perpetrated. The 
murderers had made their escape, but the chief stated that 
his young warriors were already on their trail, and would 
probably overtake them, and as soon as they were appre- 
hended they should be given up. 

The chief then returned to his village, and soon afterward 
one of the murderers was brought in, and immediately 
bound, placed upon a horse, and they started with him to 
the fort. Before they reached there, however, he threw him- 
self from the horse, cut his bonds with a Ic^ife he had con- 
cealed in his leggins, and attempted to flee, but he was im- 
mediately shot down through the heart by his guard, and 
his body carried into the fort and exhibited to the com- 
manding officer. The chief then said that all his warriors 
were in pursuit of the other man, and would probably ap- 



A brother's justice. 95 

prehend him ; that he had sent them out in pairs, or twos; 
and that, should any of the whites meet with a single Kick- 
apoo out by himself in any direction, they could kill him 
without hesitation ; they would be certain to have executed 
the right one. 

Several days elapsed without any information from the 
fugitive, when a runner came in and communicated the fol- 
lowing facts. It appeared that the Indian, on leaving his 
village, had made his way to another camp upon the Cana- 
dian Eiver, where he had a brother living. On entering 
the village, he went toward his brother's lodge, exclaiming, 
in a loud tone of voice, " I am the murderer of the two 
white men near Fort Belknap, and if any man wishes to 
take my life, here I am, ready to die." No one molesting 
him, he passed on to his brother's lodge, and seating him- 
self, partook of supper; then, turning to his brother, said, 
"Here I am, my brother, a fugitive from justice. I would 
have gone and joined the Comanches, but I was fearful I 
should starve before I found them. I am hunted down like 
a wild beast. I am like a wounded deer, that can not get 
away. I had nowhere else to go but to you." He contin- 
ued talking with his brother for some time, when finally the 
latter invited him to walk outside of the camp, where they 
could have a more free interchange of views. As soon as 
they were a short distance from the village, the brother 
stepped back, raised his tomahawk, and with a single blow 
felled the murderer to the ground, but did not kill him. 
He then seized him, saying, " My brother, I have repeatedly 
warned you of the consequences of following the path you 
have, and told you that it would ultimately lead you to dis- 
grace and ruin. You have violated the laws of your tribe 
and of the United States, and you have thereby brought the 
nation into difficulty with the pale-faces, and they expect 
ample reparation for the deed you have committed, and it 



96 REGARD FOR LAW. 

now becomes my duty to kill you." He then deliberately 
put him to death, and immediately went and reported the 
fact to the chief, who at once assembled a council of the 
principal men, and, after addressing them, and explaining 
the nature of the case, he called for a volunteer to cut off the 
head of the murderer, saying that the distance to the fort 
was too great to transport the body, and, as the command- 
ing officer required positive evidence that the man had been 
killed, it became necessary that they should take the head 
to him. No one volunteering, he said, "As no one seems 
willing to do this act, I shall be obliged to do it myself;" 
which he accordingly did, and carried the head, with a 
strong escort, to Fort Arbuckle. 

The foregoing incident evinces a high regard for law, and 
an inflexibility of spirit in the execution of its mandates 
seldom found among any people, and it exhibits the Kick- 
apoo character in vivid and faithful colors. 



PUEBLO INDIANS. 97 



CHAPTER IV. 

PUEBLO INDIANS. 

Pueblo Indians. — Early Discovery. — Situations of their Towns. — Moquis. — 
Coronado's Expedition. — Visit to Santa Domingo. — Laguna. — -Christmas 
Ceremonies. — Church Services. — Bird Orchestra. — Dances. — Moqui Vil- 
lages. — Peculiar Dances. — Feasting. — Origin of the Moquis. — Marriage 
Ceremony. — Estufas. — Pottery. — Extensive Kuins. — Large Houses. — 
Casas Grandes. 

Three liimdred and twenty-.nine years ago, and eighty- 
three years before the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, 
a Franciscan missionary, named Marcus de Niza, with that 
spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion to the interests of his 
Church which characterized the monks of his order, soli- 
tary and alone traversed the vast expanse of desert coun- 
try lying between the city of Mexico and the Gila Eiver, 
and penetrated into the very heart of New Mexico, where 
he discovered a class of aborigines living in houses and 
towns, and far more advanced in the arts than any others 
that have been met with since within the limits of our pos- 
sessions. These Indians cultivated cotton, and manufac- 
tured cloth from it. They also understood the art of mak- 
ing and coloring a very superior quality of pottery. 

Their villages or towns were generally located in the 
most elevated and-defensible positions, and regularly laid 
out into streets and public squares like European cities. 
Their houses were two, three, four, and sometimes as many 
as seven stories high, and occasionally pierced with loop- 
holes for defense, but invariably the entrances were from 
the roofs, with no doors upon the sides. They cultivated 

I 



98 CORONADO'S EXPEDITION. 

corn, were industrious and unwarlike in their habits, and 
seemed to live comfortably and happy. 

This same class of Indians still exists in New Mexico, 
and, with the exceptions of some few modifications brought 
about by the introduction of domestic animals and the com- 
mingling of the Catholic religion with their own primitive 
forms of Aztec worship, their habits, customs, and religion 
are almost precisely the same to-day as they were when 
first seen by the Spanish priest. These Indians are now 
called " Puei?05," or people who live in towns. 

The most remarkable specimens of the Pueblos that I 
have heard of are the Moquis, who occupy seven towns or 
villages situated in a very inaccessible locality, about raid- 
way between the Eio del Norte and the Colorado Eiver, 
and a short distance north of the Little Colorado. But 
very few of our people have ever visited them, and it is a 
most striking fact that this section, which, after Florida, 
was the first of our present possessions visited by Euro- 
peans, should be the last to be explored by the present gen- 
eration. 

The first successful attempt to explore this region was 
made while Nuno de Guzman was President of New Spain 
in 1540, and was, as I said before, intrusted to the command 
of Francisco Vasquez Coronado. The expedition consisted 
of 300 volunteers, mostly Spaniards of good families, who 
were induced to join the enterprise under the belief that 
they were to be led direct to the veritable " El Dorado." 

They marched to Sonora, and thence, crossing the Gila, 
traveled two weeks through the desert north of that stream, 
until at length they reached one of the towns they, were in 
search of, called Cibola, which they found built upon an 
elevated cliff, the houses having three and four stories, erect- 
ed in terrace form, and the approaches to the summit of the 
cliff so narrow and steep as to be very difficult of access. 



A rUEBLO VISITED. • 99 

Nevertheless, " Coronado assailed it sword in band, and car- 
ried it in an hour." 

From thence he proceeded east to another larger town, 
called Tigoeux, on the Eio Grande, where he made his 
head-quarters during the winter of 1540-1. At this place, 
which some suppose to have been near Isletta, "some of 
the houses were seven stories in height, and rose above the 
rest like towers, having embrasures and loopholes." 

From thence he made his expedition into the Plains, 
where he encountered the prairie Indians and vast herds 
of buffalo, and returned to Gran Quivera, on the Pecos 
River. 

Upon the occasion of Coronado's visit to New Mexico lie 
had a large number of sheep, and it is probable that the 
flocks of sheep seen among the Pueblo Indians at the pres- 
ent day sprang from those introduced by Coronado. 

I visited one of these pueblo towns {Santa Dominga) in 
18-19. On our entrance the streets seemed to be deserted, 
and we were for some time unable to find any person to 
guide us to the residence of the governor (cacique). At 
length, however, we reached the house and ascended a lad- 
der to the roof, and thence by another ladder descended 
through a trap-door into the principal room of the house. 
This method of ingress and egress must have originated 
from purposes of defense, *as when the exterior ladder is 
removed there is no way of entering the establishment. 
Immediately on our appearance the governor set before us 
some meat and tortillas, and gave us an invitation " to eat^'' 
and the same ceremony was observed in all the houses we 
visited. . It seemed to be a universal custom with them. 

While we were conversing with the governor, who was a 
very dignified and sensible old Indian, we heard strange 
noises in the street, and, on looking out, saw four young 
Indians dressed in a very peculiar tight-fitting costume of 



100 CALLING OUT WORKMEN. 

different colors, something like those we see upon the 
clowns in a circus. Around their heads were wreaths of 
wheat, and in their hands they carried gourds containing 
small pebbles, which they kept continually shaking. 

They were going from house to house in a kind of mo- 
notonous dancing gait, at the same time crying out some- 
thing in Indian which we could not understand, and as they 
passed along they would strike the exterior ladders of cer- 
tain houses. The alcalde informed us that they were his 
criers, who were calling out the people to work in the field, 
and this ceremony, it appeared, was gone through with ev- 
ery day. 

This pueblo was on the Eio Grande, in the settled part 
of the territory, and the Indians were accustomed to see 
Americans almost every day ; yet they have preserved 
their national characteristics intact, and have not adopted 
any of the habits of the whites. 

The Moqui Indians, who also live in pueblos or towns, 
are so remote from the settlements, and in such an inac- 
cessible country, that but very few white men have ever 
visited them. 

' Surgeon P. G. S. Ten Broeck, United States Army, in 
1851-2, paid a visit to the Pueblo of Laguna, and also to 
the Moqui villages, where he spent several days, having a 
good opportunity afforded him t)f witnessing their peculiar 
ceremonies and customs; and as his description of the re- 
markable idiosyncracies of this anomalous race (or rathet 
type of a race) is highly interesting and truthful, I liave 
taken the liberty of making some extracts from a paper 
furnished by him to Mr. H. R. Schoolcraft. 

He attended church on Christmas at Laguna, and gives 
his impressions in the following words: "The church was 
quite a large building of stone, laid up in mud, and is sur- 
mounted by a wooden cross. It is long and narrow, and 



PUEBLO WOESHIP. 101 

the walls are whitewashed in much the same style that the 
Indians paint their earthen-ware. The front is continued 
about ten feet above the roof, the whole overtopped by a 
cross, and in this wall are three arches containing as. many 
sized bells, whose tones are by no means Orphean, and which 
are tolled by Indians standing on the roof, and pulling cords 
attached to the different clappers. (Query : where did the 
bells come from ?) 

" The Indians appear greatly delighted in jingling these 
bells upon all occasions ; but this morning they commenced 
very early, and made, if possible, more noise than usual. 
After breakfast I entered church and found the people as- 
sembling for worship, the men in their best blankets, buck- 
skin breeches, and moccasins, and .the squaws in their gay- 
est tilmas. Many of the latter wore blankets of red cloth 
thrown over the ordinary colored tilraa or manta. Candles 
were lighted at the altar, within the limits of which were 
two old men performing some kind of mystic ceremony. 
Soon an old, ragged, dirty-looking Mexican commenced re- 
citing the rosary of the Virgin Mary, and all who under- 
stood Spanish joined in the responses. When the rosary 
was finished, this same old fellow sang a long song in praise 
of Montezuma, which he afterward told me was written 
by himself, the burden of which was 'Cuando! cuando ! 
nabro otis Montezuma, cuando !' 

" This being ended, some other ceremonies which I did 
not understand were gone through with by the Indians; 
speeches were made by the governor and some of the old 
men, and the congregation then quietly dispersed to pre- 
pare themselves for the pastimes of the afternoon. As they 
passed out I noticed that a great many of them carried in 
their hands little baskets containing images, some of sheep 
and goats, others of horses, cows, and other domestic ani- 
mals, and others, again, of deer and beasts of the chase, 

I* 



102 BIRD ORCHESTRA. 

quite ingeniously wrought in mud or dough. Inquiring 
the reason of this, I was told that it was their custom from 
time immemorial that those who had been successful with 
herds, in agriculture, in the chase, or any other way, car- 
ry images (each of that in which he had been blessed dur- 
ing the past year) to the altar, there to lay them at the feet 
of the Great Spirit. 

"But I have deferred until the last what was to me by 
far the most curious and interesting in this singular Christ- 
mas service — I mean the orchestra. Just over the entrance 
door there was a small gallery, and no sooner had the 
Mexican commenced his rosary than there issued from this 
a sound like the warbling of a multitude of birds, and it 
was kept up until he had ceased. There it went, through 
the whole house, bounding from side to side, echoing fi-om 
the very rafters — fine, tiny warblings, and deep-toned, thrill- 
ing sounds. The note of the wood-thrush and the trillings 
of the Canary bird, were particularly distinct. What could 
it mean ? I determined to find out, and, having worked 
my way up into the gallery, I there found fifteen or twenty 
young boys lying down upon the floor, each with a small 
basin two thirds full of water in front of him, and one or 
more short reeds perforated and split in a peculiar manner. 
Placing one end in the water, and blowing through the 
other, they imitated the notes of different birds most won- 
derfully. It was a curious sight; and, taken altogether, the 
quaintly painted church, the altar with its lighted candles 
and singular inmates, the kneeling Indians in their pictur- 
esque garbs, and, above all, the sounds sent down by the 
bird orchestra, formed a scene not easily forgotten. I be- 
lieve I was more pleased with this simple 'and natural 
music than I have ever been with the swelling organs and 
opera -singers who adorn the galleries of our churches at 
home. About four o'clock this afternoon a party of seven 



CURIOUS DANCE, 103 

men and as many sq«aws appeared in the yard in front of 
the church, accompanied by an old man bearing a tombe, 
and commenced one of their dances. 

" The tombe is a pecuhar drum, used by all the Indians in l^ 
this country at their festivals. It is made of a hollow log 
about two and a half feet long, and fifteen inches in diame- 
ter. A dried hide, from which the hair has been removed, 
is stretched over either end, and to one side a short pole is 
lashed, to support the instrument when played upon. A 
• drum-stick, like those used for the bass drum, but with a 
longer handle, is employed in playing, and with this they 
pound away with great energy, producing a dull roar, which 
is audible at a considet'able distance, and is almost deafen- 
ing to one unaccustomed to it, if approached too near. The 
dancers were accompanied by a band of elderly men, who 
immediately commenced singing in time with the bum- 
bum of the tombe. All the dancers appeared in their best 
attire, the men and squaws wearing large sashes, most 
fancifully worked and dyed, and also eagle and turkey 
feathers in their hair and hanging down their backs, and 
from the waist of each was suspended a skin of the silver- 
gray fox. The men's legs were naked from the knee down, 
and painted red. Their hair hung loose upon their shoul- 
ders, and both men and women had their hands painted 
with white clay in such a way as to resemble open-work 
gloves. The women had on beautifully-worked mantas, 
and were barefooted, with the exception of a little piece 
tied about the heel, which looked like that part of an em- 
broidered slipper. They all wore their hair combed over 
their faces in a manner that rendered it utterly impossible 
to recognize any of them. Every man carried in his hand 
a gourd partly filled with little pebbles, which he shook in 
exact time with the music. They dance a kind of hop- 
step, and the figure is something like the countermarch, 



104 THE MOQUIS. 

the couple leading up toward the church, and then turning, 
filed back again. The women keep their elbows close to 
their sides, and their heels pressed firmly together, and do 
not raise the feet, but shufiie along with a kind of rolling 
motion, moving their arms, from the elbows down, with 
time to the step. At times each man dances around his 
squaw, while she turns herself about, as if her heels formed 
a pivot on which she moved. Dancers, tombe, and singers 
keep most excellent time, and there is ;no discord among 
the gourds. After dancing a short time in front of the 
church, they went into the Plaza and continued till dark, 
when they separated." 

These dances were continued on the 26th, 27th, and 28th 
of December, in the same manner as on Christmas. 

On the 31st of March, 1852, the doctor visited the Mo- 
quis at their villages. He says of them, " Between eleven 
and twelve to-day we arrived at the first towns of Moqui. 
All the inhabitants turned out, crowding the streets and 
house-tops to have a view of the white men. All the old 
men pressed forward to shake hands with us, and we were 
at once feasted upon guavas and a leg of mutton broiled on 
coals. After the feast we smoked with them, and they 
then said that we should move our camp in, and that they 
would give us a room and plenty of wood for the men, and 
sell us corn for the animals; accordingly, our command 
was moved into town, 

" The three villages here are situated on a strong bluff 
about 300 feet high, and from 30 to 150 feet wide, which is 
approached by a trail passable for horses at only one point. 
This is very steep, and an hour's work in throwing down 
stones, with which it is in many places built up, could ren- 
der it utterly inaccessible to horsemen. At all other points 
they have constructed footpaths, steps, etc., by which they 
pass up and down. The side of the rock is not perfectly 



DANCE OF MOQUIS. 105 

perpendicular, but, after a sheer descent of 60 or 70 feet, 
there are ledges from five to eight yards wide, on which 
thej have established their sheep-folds. The bluif is about 
800 yards long, and the towns are some 180 yards apart. 

"The houses are built of stone, laid in mud (which must 
have been brought from the plain below, as there is not a 
particle of soil upon the rock), and in the same form as the 
other pueblos. They are whitewashed inside with white 
clay. Hanging by strings from the rafters I saw some cu- 
rious and rather horrible little Aztec images, made of wood 
or clay, and decorated with paint and feathers, which the 
guide told me were ' saints ;' but I have seen the children 
playing with them in the most irreverent manner." 

Speaking of the dances of the Moquis, the doctor says : 
" The dance of to-day has been a most singular one, and ' 
differs from any I have seen among the other Pueblo In- 
dians, the dresses of the performers being more quaint and 
rich. There were twenty men and as many women, ranged 
in two files. The dresses of the men were similar to those 
before described, except that they wear on their heads large 
pasteboard towers, painted typically, and curiously decora- 
ted with feathers, and each man has his face entirely cover- 
ed with a visor made of small willows with the bark peeled 
off, and dyed a deep brown. The women all have their 
hair put up in the manner peculiar to virgins ; and immedi- 
ately in the centre, where the hair is parted, a long, straight 
eagle's feather is fixed. But by far the most beautiful part 
of their dress is a tilma of some three and a half feet square, 
which is thrown over the shoulders, fastened in front, and, 
hanging down behind, reaches half way below the knee. 
This tilma is pure white. Its materials I should suppose 
to be cotton or wool. Its texture is very fine, and it has 
one or more wide borders of beautiful colors, exceedingly 
well wrought in and of curious patterns. The women also 



106 MOQUI MUSIC. 

wear visors of willow sticks, which are colored a bright yel- 
low, and arranged in parallel rows like Pandean pipes. On 
each side of the files is placed a small boy, who dances or 
canters up and down the line, and is most accurately mod- 
eled after the popular representation of his satanic majes- 
ty's imps. With the exception of a very short-fringed tu- 
nic reaching just below the hip-joint, and a broad sash fast- 
ened around the waist, the boy is entirely naked. The 
whole body is painted black, relieved by white rings placed 
at regular intervals over the whole person. The appear- 
ance of these little imps as they gamboled along the line of 
dancers was most amusing. They had neither a tombe ac- 
companiment nor a band of singers ; but the dancers fur- 
nished their own music, and a most strange sound it was, 
resembling very much the noise, on a large scale, of a swarm 
of blue-bottle-fiies in an empty hogshead. The dance was 
a most monotonous one, the dancers remaining in the same 
place, and alternately lifting their feet in time to the song 
and the gourds. The only change of position was an occa- 
sional ' about face.' 

"When they first came in, two old men, who acted as 
masters of ceremonies, went along the whole line, and, with 
a powder held between the thumb and fore finger, anoint- 
ed each dancer on the shoulder. After dancins; a while 
in the mode above described, the ranks were opened, and, 
rugs and blankets being spread upon the ground, the vir- 
gins squatted on them, while the men kept up a kind of 
murmuring dance in front. Every third or fourth female 
had at this time a large hollow gourd placed before her, on 
which rested a grooved piece of wood, shaped like an old- 
fashioned wash-board, and by drawing the dry shoulder- 
blade of a sheep rapidly across this, a sound was produced 
similar to that of a watchman's rattle. After performing 
the same dance on each side of the Plaza, they left, to re- 



MASKS AND AMUSEMENTS. 107 

turn again in fifteen minutes; and thus they kept it up 
from sunrise till dark, when the dancing ceased. 

"As appendages to the feast, they had clowns who served 
as messengers and waiters, and also to amuse the spectators 
while the dancers were away. The first batch consisted of 
six or eight young men in breech -clouts, having some 
comical daubs of paint on their faces and persons, with 
wigs made of black sheepskins. Some wore rams' horns 
on their heads, and were amusing themselves by attempts 
at dancing, singing, and running races, when they were 
attacked by a huge grizzly bear (or rather a fellow in the 
skin of one), which, after a long pursuit and many hard 
fights, they brought to bay and killed. They then imme- 
diately opened him, and took from out of his body a quan- 
tity of guavas, green corn, etc., which his bearship had un- 
doubtedly appropriated from the refreshments provided for 
the clowns. But no sooner had they disposed of Bruin 
than a pew trouble came upon them in the shape of two 
ugly little imps, who, prowling about, took every opportu- 
nity to annoy them ; and when, by dint of great persever- 
ance, they succeeded in freeing themselves from these mis- 
shapen brats, in rushed eight or ten most horrible-looking 
figures (in masks), all armed with whips, which they did 
not for a moment hesitate to apply most liberally to any of 
the poor clowns who were so unlucky as to fall into their 
clutches. They even tied some hand and foot, and laid them 
out in the Plaza. 

"It seemed they were of the same race as the imps, and 
came to avenge the treatment they had received at the 
hands of the clowns, for the ' limbs of Satan' returned al- 
most immediately, and took an active part in their capture, 
and in superintending the flaggellating operations. Such 
horrible masks I never saw before ; noses six inches long, 
mouths from ear to ear, and great goggle eyes as big as 



108 GREAT FATHER AND MOTHER. 

half a hen's egg, hanging by a string partly out of the 
socket. 

" The simple Indians appeared highly delighted with 
these performances, and I must avow having had many a 
hearty laugh at their whimsicalities. 

"While the dances were going on, large baskets filled 
with guavas of different forms and colors, roasted corn, 
bread, meat, and other eatables, were distributed by the vir- 
gins among the spectators. The old governor tells me this 
evening that it is contrary to their usages to permit the fe- 
males to dance, and that those whom I supposed to be 
young virgins were in fact young men, dressed for the oc- 
casion. This is a custom peculiar to the Moquis, I think, 
for in all other pueblos I visited the women dance. 

" The government of these people is hereditary, but does 
not necessarily descend to the sons of the incumbent ; for 
if the people prefer any other blood relation, he is chosen. 

" The population of the seven villages I should estimate 
j^ at 8000, of which one half is found in the first three. They 
say that of late years wars and diseases have greatly de- 
creased their numbers. They spoke of fevers and disease, 
which I supposed to be phthisis and pertussis. They ob- 
serve no particular burial rites. They believe in the exist- 
ence of a Great Father, who lives where the sun rises, and a 
Great Mother, who lives where the sun sets. The first is 
the author of all the evils that befall them, as war,' pesti- 
lence, famine, etc. ; and the Great Mother is the very re- 
verse of this, and from her are derived the blessings they 
enjoy. In the course of the 'talk,' the principal governor 
made a speech, in which he said, ' Now we all know that 
it is good the Americans have come among us, for our 
Great Father, who lives where the sun rises, is pacified ; and 
our Great Mother, who lives where the sun sets, is smiling, 
and, in token of her approbation, sends fertilizing showers 



MOQUI AGRICULTURE. 109 

(i.t was snowing at the time), which will enrich our fields, 
and enable us to raise the harvest whereby we subsist.' 
" Of their origin they give the following account: 
" Many, many years ago, their Great Mother brought from 
her home in the west nine races of men, in the following 
forms : first, the deer race ; second, the sand race ; third, 
the water race; fourth, the bear race; fifth, the hare race ; 
sixth, the prairie-wolf race ; seventh, the rattlesnake race ; 
eighth, the tobacco-plant race ; ninth, the seed-grass race. 
Having placed them on the spot where their villages now 
stand, she transformed them into men, who built the pres- 
ent pueblos, and the distinction of races is still kept up. 
One told me he was of the sand race, another the deer, etc. 
They are firm believers in metemjDsychosis, and say that 
when they die they will resolve into their original forms, 
and become bears, deer, etc. The chief governor is of the 
deer race. 

" Shortly after the pueblos were built, the Great Mother 
came in person, and brought them all the domestic animals 
they now have, which are principally sheep and goats, and 
a few very large donkeys. The sacred fire is kept contin- 
ually burning by the old men, and all I could glean from 
them was that some great misfortune would befall their 
people if they allowed it to be extinguished. They know 
nothing of Montezuma, and have never had any Spanish 
or other missionaries among them. All the seeds they pos- 
sess were brought from where the morning star rises. They 
plant in May or June, and harvest in October or Novem- 
ber. They do not plow or irrigate, but put their seeds in 
the sand, and depend upon the rains for water. They raise 
corn, melons, pumpkins, beans, and onions; also a cotton 
of which I procured a specimen, and a species of mongrel 
tobacco. They have also a few peach-trees, and are the 
only Pueblo Indians who raise cotton. They have no 



110 MARRIAGE CUSTOMS. 

small grain of any kind. They say they have known the 
Spaniards ever since they can remember. About twenty 
years ago, a party of some fifteen Americans, the first they 
ever saw, came over the mountains and took the Zuni trail. 
Six years afterward, another party, with four females, pass- 
ed through. 

" Their mode of marriage might well be introduced into 
the United States, with the Bloomer costume. Here, in- 
stead of the swain asking the hand of the fair one, she se- 
lects the young man who is to her fancy, and then her fa- 
ther proposes the match to the sire of the lucky youth. 
This proposition is never refused. The preliminaries being 
arranged, the young man, on his part, furnishes two pairs 
of moccasins, two fine blankets, two mattresses, and two 
sashes used at the feast ; while the maiden, for her share, 
provides an abundance of eatables, when the marriage is 
celebrated by feasting and dancing. 

" Polygamy is unknown among them ; but at any time, 
if either of the parties become dissatisfied, they can divorce 
themselves, and marry others if they please. In case there 
are children, they are taken care of by the respective grand- 
parents. They are simple, happy, and most hospitable peo- 
ple. The sin of intoxication is unknown among them, as 
they have no kind of fermented liquors. When a stranger 
visits one of their houses, the first act is to set food before 
him, and nothing is done 'till lie has eaten.' 

"In every village are one or more edifices underground, 
and you descend a ladder to get into them. They answer 
to our village groceries, being a place of general resort for 
the male population. I went into one of them. In the 
centre was a small square box of stone, in which was a fire 
of guava bushes, and around this a few old men were 
smoking. All around the room were Indians naked to the 
'breech-clout;' some were engaged in sewing, and others 
spinning and knitting. 



HARNO. Ill 

" On a bench in the background sat a warrior most ex- 
travagantly painted, who was undoubtedly undergoing some 
ordeal, as I was not allowed to approach him. They knit, 
weave, and spin, as in the other pueblos, and, besides, make 
fabrics of cotton. 

" The villages of the Moquis are seven in number, and 
more nearly correspond to the seven cities of Cibola than 
any which have yet been discovered. They are situated 
in the same valley — they are upon a bluff. Oraivaz, called 
Musquins by the Mexicans, is almost due west from the 
bluff, and about thirty miles distant. There is another 
town at twenty miles west by south, and two more about 
south-southwest, and some eight or ten miles distant from 
the first three. Of these, the two at the southern extremity 
of the bluff are the largest, containing probably 2000 in- 
habitants ; Oraivaz is the second in size. They all speak 
the same language except Harno, the most northern town 
of the three, which has a language and some customs pecul- 
iar to itself 

"It seems a very singular fact that, being within 150 
yards of the middle town, Harno should have for so long a 
period its own language and customs. The other Moquis 
say the inhabitants of this town have a great advantage 
over them, as they perfectly understand the common lan- 
guage, and none but the people of Harno understand their 
dialect. The women are the prettiest squaws I have yet 
seen, and are very industrious. Their manner of dressing 
the hair is very pretty. While virgins, it is done up on 
each side of the head in two inverse rolls, which bear some 
resemblance to the horns of the mountain sheep. After 
marriage they wear it in two large knots on each side of 
the face. These people make the same kind of pottery as 
the Zunians and Lagunians." 

Notwithstanding the country west of the Rio del Norte 



112 OTHER EXPEDITIONS. 

presents so barren and forbidding an aspect that it is only 
here and there along the immediate borders of the few wa- 
ter-courses that the soil will yield any returns to the hus- 
bandman, yet this country was once much more populous 
than at present. The numerous ruins of houses and towns 
scattered all over the country most incontestably establish 
this fact; moreover, the character of these ruins goes to 
show that the people who erected them were more ad- 
vanced in architecture than the Pueblo's, or any other In- 
dians now existing in that country. 

Captain Sitgreaves, in his expedition from Zuni to the 
Colorado, passed for nine miles through a continuous suc- 
cession of these ruins, in a locality where there was no wa- 
ter for many miles, which induced him to believe that the 
disintegration of the rocks from the surrounding heights 
had filled up the beds of the streams, and rendered the sit- 
uation of this ancient city uninhabitable. 

Captain J. H. Simpson, United States Engineers, who in 
1849 was attached to an expedition made into the Navahoe 
country, in Northwest New Mexico, describes the ruins of 
several enormous houses he met with, which were built of 
stone, in a style of architecture and masonry far better than 
that we find in the pueblos that are now occupied. Some 
of these houses contained from 100 to 160 rooms, each upon 
the ground floors, all, excepting the estufas, of small dimen- 
sions, and not exceeding twelve by eight feet in area ; the 
doors only about three feet by two, and the windows some 
twelve inches square, with no chimneys. They all had the 
large underground council-rooms, or estufas, like those in 
the pueblos of the present day, and this would seem to in- 
dicate that they were built by a race of people having sim'- 
ilar habits ; yet the Pueblo Indians do not pretend to know 
any thing about their origin. All that can be gleaned from 
them upon the subject is, that they are '^casas grandes''' (big 



OLD WOOD. 113 

houses), which is very apparent. What appears very mys- 
terious to me in regard to it is that the beams, rafters, and 
floors in some of these ruins should have remained for so 
great a length of time as sound and perfect as they were 
when put in, in some instances even exhibiting the print 
of the dull (probably) stone axe used in cutting them. 

If the origin of these ruins was of a date anterior to the 
discovery of New Mexico by the Spaniards, I can only ac- 
count for the preservation of the wood-work from the fact 
of the extreme purity and dryness of the atmosphere. 

K* 



11 J: RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 



CHAPTER V. 

RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 

Red River Expedition. — Order. — Early Efforts to explore it. — Navigable 
Portion. — Copper Ores. — New Ore. — Dr. Hitchcock's Opinion. — Great 
Gypsum Belt. — Cause of bad Taste in the Water. — Witchita Mountains. 
— Extent of Choctaw Reservation. — Beautiful Country. — Visit of Witche- 
taws. — Buffaloes. — Comanche Trails. — Buffalo Chase. — Panther killed. — 
Unaccountable Appearance of "Water. — South Winds. — Encamping. — 
Head of North Fork. — Visit to Canadian River. — Mirage. — Head of Salt 
Fork. — Laiio-Estacado. — Prairie Dog Town. — Leaving the Train. — Bad 
Water. — Suffering from the Effects of bad Water. — Reach the Head of 
the main Fork of Red River. — Beautiful Scenery. — Bears. — Remarkable 
Canon. 

On the 5th of March, 1852, 1 received the following order: 

(special orders, no. 33.) 
'^Adjutant GeneraVs Office, Washington, March 5, 18G2, 

• " Captain R. B. Marcy, 5th Infantry, with his company as 
an escort, will proceed, without unnecessary delay, to make 
an examination of the Red River and the country border- 
ing upon it, from the mouth of Cache Creek to its sources, 
according to the special instructions with which he will be 
furnished. 

******* 

" Brevet Captain G. B, McClellan, Corps of Engineers, is 
assigned duty with this expedition. * * * * 

" By command of Major General Scott. 

" (Signed) R. Jones, Adjutant OeneraV 

As some of the most interesting events connected with 
this expedition may possess sufficient attraction for many 
who feel an interest in such matters to compensate them for 



EARLY RED RIVER EXPLORATIONS. 115 

the perusal, I have determined to give them a passing no- 
tice here. 

I had spent the greater portion of the three previous 
years in exploring the country lying upon the Canadian 
River of the Arkansas, and upon the head waters of the 
Trinity, Brazos, and Colorado Rivers of Texas. 

During this time my attention had frequently been called 
to_ the remarkable fact that a great portion of one of the 
largest and most important rivers in the United States had 
remained up to that late period wholly unexplored and un- 
known. The only information we had upon the subject 
was derived from Indians, and was, of course, very indefi- 
nite and unsatisfactory ; in a word, the country embraced 
within the basin of Upper Red River had always been to 
us a ^'' terra incognita^ 

Several enterprising travelers had at different periods at- 
tempted to explore this river, but as yet none had succeed- 
ed in finding its head waters. 

At a very early period officers were sent out by the 
French government to explore Red River, but their exam- 
inations appear to have extended no farther than the vicin- 
ity of the present town of Natchitoches, Louisiana. On the 
3d of May, 1806, three years after the cession to the United 
States, by the First Consul of the French Republic, of that 
vast territory then known as Louisiana, a small party known 
as the Exploring Expedition of Red River, consisting of 
Captain Sparks, Mr. Freeman, Lieutenant Humphry, and 
Dr. Curtis, with seventeen private soldiers, embarked at St. 
Catharine's Landing, near Natchez, Mississippi, and started 
to ascend Red River to its sources. 

This party encountered many difficulties and obstructions 
in the navigation of the river, among the numerous bayous 
in the vicinity of the great raft, but finally overcame them 
all, and found themselves above this formidable obstacle. 



/ 



116 pike's expedition. 

They were, however, here met by a large force of Spanish 
troops, the commander of which forced them to turn back 
and abandon the enterprise. 

Another expedition was fitted out in 1806 by our gov- 
ernment, and placed under the command of that enterpris- 
ing young traveler, Lieutenant Pike, who was ordered to 
ascend the Arkansas River to its sources, thence to strike 
across the country to the head of the Red River, and de- 
scend that stream to Natchitoches. After encountering 
many privations and intense sufferings in the deep snows 
of the lofty mountains about the head waters of the Ar- 
kansas, Lieutenant Pike arrived finally upon a stream 
running to the east, which he took to be Red River, but 
which subsequently proved to be the Rio Grande. Here 
he was taken by the Governor of New Mexico and sent 
home by way of Chihuahua and San Antonio, thus putting 
a stop to his explorations. 

General Wilkinson, under whose orders Lieutenant Pike 
was serving at the time, states, in a letter to him after his 
return, as follows : " The principal object of your expedi- 
tion up the Arkansas was to discover the true position of 
the sources of Red River. This was not accomplished." 
Lieutenant Pike, however, from the most accurate informa- 
tion he could obtain, gives the geographical position of the 
sources of Red River as in latitude 33° N, and longitude 
104° W. Again, in 1819-20, Colonel Long, of the United 
States Topographical Engineers, on bis return from an ex- 
ploration of the Missouri River and the country lying be- 
tween that stream and the head of the Arkansas, undertook 
to descend the Red River from its sources. The colonel, 
in speaking of this in his interesting report, says: "We 
arrived at a creek having a westerly course, which we took 
to be a tributary of Red River. Having traveled down 
its valley about two hundred miles, we fell in with a party 



long's expedition. 117 

of Indians, of the nation of ' Kaskias,' or ' Bad Hearts,' who 
gave us to understand that the stream along which we were 
travehng was Eed Eiver. We accordingly continued our 
march down the river several hundred miles farther, when, 
to our no small disappointment, we discovered it was the 
Canadian of the Arkansas, instead of Eed Eiver, that we 
had been exploring. 

" Our horses being nearly worn out with the fatigue of 
our long journey, which they had to perform barefooted, 
and the season being too far advanced to admit of our re- 
tracing our steps and going back again in quest of the 
source of Eed Eiver, with the possibility of exploring it 
before the commencement of winter, it was deemed advis- 
able to give over the enterprise for the present and make 
our way to the settlements on the Arkansas. We were 
led to the commission of this mistake in consequence of 
our not having been able to procure a good guide acquaint- 
ed with that part of the country. Our only dependence in 
this respect was upon Pike's map, which assigns to the 
head waters of Eed Eiver the apparent locality of those of 
the Canadian." 

Dr. James, who accompanied Colonel Long, in his jour- 
nal of the expedition, says : " Several persons have recent- 
ly arrived at St. Louis, in Missouri, from Santa Fe, and, 
among others, the brother of Captain Shreeves, who gives 
information of a large and frequented road, which runs 
nearly due east from that place, and strikes one of the 
branches of the Canadian ; that, at a considerable distance 
south of this point, in the high plain, is the principal source 
of Eed Eiver. 

" His account confirms an opinion we had previously 
formed, namely, that the branch of the Canadian explored 
by Major Long's party in August, 1820, has its sources near 
those of some stream which descends toward the west into 



118 Humboldt's mistake. 

the Eio del Norte, and, consequently, that some other re- 
gion must contain the head of Red River," He continues: 

"From a careful comparison of all the information we 
have been able to collect, we are satisfied that the stream 
on which we encamped on the 31st of August is the Rio 
Raijo of Humboldt, long mistaken for the sources of Red 
River of Natchitoches. In a region of red clay and sand, 
where all the streams become nearly the color of arterial 
blood, it is not surprising that several rivers should have 
received the same name ; nor is it surprising that so accu- 
rate a topographer as the Baron Humboldt, having learned 
that a red river rises forty or fifty miles east of Santa Fe, 
and runs to the east, should conjecture it might be the 
source of Red River of Natchitoches. 

" This conjecture (for it is no more) we believed to have 
been adopted by our geographers, who have with much 
confidence made their delineations and their accounts to 
correspond with it." 

Hence it will be seen that up to this time there was no 
record of any traveler having reached the sources of Red 
River, and that the country upon the head waters of that 
stream had heretofore been unexplored. The Mexicans, 
and Indians on the borders of Mexico, are in the habit of 
calling any river, the waters of which have a red appear- 
ance, "Rio Colorado," or Red River, and they have applied 
this name to the Canadian in common with several others ; 
and as many of the prairie Indians often visit the Mex- 
icans, and some even speak the Spanish language, it is 
a natural consequence that the}'' should adopt the same 
nomenclature for rivers, places, etc. Thus, if a traveler in 
New Mexico were to inquire for the head of Red River, he 
would most undoubtedly be directed to the Canadian, and 
the same would also be the case in the adjacent Indian 
country. These facts will account for the mistake into 



DR. Gregg's rio negro. 119 

which Baron Humboldt was led, and it will also account 
for the error into which Colonel Long and Lieutenant Pike 
have fallen in regard to the sources of the stream which we 
call Red River. 

Dr. Gregg, in his "Commerce of the Prairies," tells us 
that on his way down the south bank of the Canadian his 
Comanche guide, Manuel (who, by-the-by, traveled six hund- 
red miles with me upon the Plains, and whom I always 
found reliable), pointed out to him breaks or bluffs upon a 
stream to the south of the Canadian, near what we ascer- 
tained to be the true position of the head of the north 
branch of Red River, and where it approaches within twen- 
ty-five miles of the Canadian. These bluffs he said were 
upon the " Rio Negro," which the doctor supposed to be 
the Witchita River ; but, after having examined that section' 
of country, I am satisfied that the north branch of Red 
River must have been alluded to by the guide, as the 
Witchita rises farther to the east. It therefore seems prob- 
able that "Rio Negro" is the name which the Mexicans 
have applied to Red River of Louisiana. 

Having organized my party, and laid in a supply of pro- 
visions for our expedition at Fort Belknap, on the Brazos 
River, in Texas, we, on the 1st day of May, left that post, 
and on the 9th we reached the mouth of Cache Creek, the 
point at which we were ordered to commence our examina- * 
tions. 

This point was at that time about two hundred miles, by 
the meanderings of the river, above the remotest white set- 
tlements where steam-boats had yet reached. I am confi- 
dent, however, that at a high stage there will be suf&cient 
depth of water to allow small steamers to ascend the river 
abtout fifty miles above Cache Creek. 

At a low stage of water the river becomes very shallow, 
and can then be forded at almost any point. At the mouth 



120 MARCYLITE. 

of Cache Creek the Eed Eiver was about two hundred 
yards wide and four feet deep, with a current of three miles 
per hour. 

Cache Creek takes its rise in the Witchita chain of 
mountains. It is, at the mouth, one hundred and fifty feet 
wide and three feet deep, flowing rapidly over a hard clay 
and gravel bed, between high, abrupt banks, through a val- 
ley about a mile wide of rich alluvium, and bordered by 
timber, which is the best I met with west of the Cross Tim- 
bers, and well adapted for building purposes. The soil in 
the valley is admirably suited for the culture of all kinds 
of grain ; and an analysis of the subsoil by Professor Shep- 
hard, of Amherst College, showed that it possessed strong 
and enduring constituents. 

Just before we reached Cache Creek we passed a small 
stream, where we picked up several pieces of copper ore 
lying upon the surface, where the rains had washed away 
the turf. 

The analysis of these specimens by Professor Shephard 
is alluded to in his report as follows : " The most interest- 
ing of the copper ores submitted by Captain Marcy was a 
specimen from the main or South Fork of Red Piver, near 
the Witchita Mountains, 

"It is a black, compact ore, strongly resembling the black 
oxide of copper from the Lake Superior mines, for which 
substance I at first mistook it. It was partially coated by 
a thin layer of the rare and beautiful atacamite. 

" This is the first instance in which this species has been 
detected in North America. On subjecting the black ore 
to a close investigation, it proves to be a substance hitherto 
undescribed, and it affords me much pleasure to name it, in 
honor of the very enterprising and successful explorer to 
whom mineralogy is indebted for the discovery, Marcylite. 
In small fragments it melts in the heat of a candle, to the 



COPPER ORE. 121 

flame of which it imparts a rich blue and green color. This 
is especially striking when a blowpipe is employed. The 
slightest beat of the instrument suffices for the fusion of 
the ore. The chloride of copper is volatilized, and spreads 
over the charcoal support, from which the splendid green 
color rises also. Analysis gave the following as the com- 
]X)sition of the ore : 

Copper 54.30 

Oxygen and Chlorine '. 36.20 

Water 9.50 

, 100.00, 

with traces of Silica. 

" The above is undoubtedly a very valuable ore for cop- 
per, as it is very rich in metal, and easy of reduction in the 
furnace." 

"We discovered traces of copper ore in several other lo- 
calities on Eed Eiver, and also upon the Big Witchita, in 
1854, but it generally occurred in small detached frag- 
ments, from the size of a pea to that of a hen's egg. With 
one exception, however, we saw no veins of the ore. 

While upon this subject, I take occasion to relate a cir- 
cumstance that occurred while I was stationed at Camp Ar- 
buckle, on the Canadian Eiver, during the autumn of 1850. 

My old Delaware guide. Black Beaver, one day came to 
me, and, taking me aside, very mysteriously and cautiously 
pulled out from his pocket several large pieces of green car- 
bonate of copper, at the same time saying, "Maybe so mon- 
ey." I assured him that it was copper, and asked him if it 
was abundant where he found it. He said there was "a 
heap." And upon my inquiring whether he was willing to 
show me the locality, he said, "Bob Jones (a rich Chicka- 
saw) he say, s'poze find um copper mine, give um four hund- 
red dollars." I informed him that I was willing to pay the 

same amount, provided the ore was sufficiently abundant, 

L 



122 DELAWARE LAW. 

and an arrangement. was made with him to go with me the 
following morning to the place where he obtained the spec- 
imens. I made my arrangements, accordingly, for an early 
departure ; but Beaver did not make his appearance ; and, 
after my patience was exhausted in waiting, I rode over to 
his house, where I found him looking very sulky, and hav- 
ing apparently made no preparations for the trip. I asked 
him if he was ready to go. He replied, "I s'pect maybe so 
I not go, captain." "Why not?" I inquired. He said, 
"Delaware law, s'poze show um 'Merican man mine, kill 
um." I then endeavored to convince him that there was 
no danger of any one knowing where we proposed to go ; 
but he had fully determined not to have any thing farther 
to do with it, and I could not persuade hini to change his 
resolution. 

I however succeeded subsequently in discovering the lo- 
cality without his agency, and found a considerable quan- 
tity of detached pieces of the ore, some of which were as 
large as a man's head. It was lying upon the surface of 
the ground ; but we found no vein. I believe, however, as 
we traced the surface ore for at least three hundred yards 
in a direct line, that excavations might discover a vein be- 
neath this line. 

We afterward sent a wagon, and transported a load of 
this ore to Fort Smith, and it was sent thence to New Or- 
leans and Liverpool, where it was smelted by a Welch 
mining company, and the proceeds paid all the expenses of 
the transportation. Farther than this, nothing was ever 
done. 

Doctor Edward Hitchcock, in speaking of the prospects 
for copper in the country upon Red River, says : 

" How much copper may be expected in such a region 
as that on Red River I have no means of judging, because 
I know of no analogous formation ; but as we have proof 



GREAT GYPSUM FORMATION. 123 

that it is an aqueous deposit, and that igneous agency has 
been active not far off (this is a strongly-marked character- 
istic upon the Big Witchita), it would not be strange if the 
vicinity of the Witchita Mountains should prove a prolific 
locality.'.' 

From the geological formation of the Witchita Mount- 
ains, and the character of the quartz and the black sand 
which we observed there, we were induced to believe that 
gold might be found, but Dr. Hitchcock did not appear to 
regard this as of much consequence. He says: "But, 
though your discovery of gold (we found only one small 
specimen) will probably excite more attention, I feel that 
the great gj^psum deposits of the West which you have 
brought to light will be of far more consequence to the 
country," 

In several of my exploring expeditions I had passed 
through the great gypsum belt alluded to by the doctor, in 
an easterly and westerly direction, at six different points of 
latitude, from the Canadian River on the north to the Rio 
Grande on the south, and have observed it extending in a 
course nearly northeast and southwest over the entire dis- 
tance. It is from 50 to 100 miles wide, and about 350 
miles in length, and is embraced wnthin the meridians 99 
and 104| of west longitude, and the 32d and the 36th par- 
allels of north latitude. 

In many places I have observed all the varieties of gyp- 
sum, from the common plaster of Paris of commerce, to 
pure selenite, and among specimens of the latter were some 
pieces three feet by four in surface, and two inches in thick- 
ness, and as perfectly transparent as any crown glass I ever 
saw. Placing one of these specimens upon the page of a 
book, at a short distance oflP, it was impossible to tell that 
any thing covered it, so perfectly plain did the letters show 
beneath the plate. 



124 DR. Hitchcock's remarks. 

It is to be regretted that I could not have brought home 
some of these beautiful specimens, but my means of trans- 
portation were too limited to allow it. 

Wherever I have encountered this mineral I have* inva- 
riably found the water bitter and unpalatable, which arises 
from the decomposition of the rock, as an analysis of the 
water has shown that the taste depends upon the presence 
of three salts in nearly equal proportions, two of which, sul- 
phate of magnesia or Epsom salts, and chloride of sodium, 
are very sapid. 

Dr. Hitchcock remarked upon the formation : " I do not 
wonder that you were deeply impressed with the vast ex- 
tent of this deposit." 

Professor D. D. Owen, in his late valuable report of a 
geological survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, etc. (1852), describes 
a gypseous deposit twenty to thirty feet thick, and occupy- 
ing an area from two to three square miles ; and he says 
that "for thickness and extent this is by far the most im- 
portant bed of plaster-stone known west of the Appalachian 
chain, if not in the United States." The distinguished pro- 
fessor did not of course know, when he wrote this, that 
there was in the United States another deposit of this min- 
eral several thousand times as large as the one mentioned 
by him. 

The only other gypsum formations in the world known 
to geologists which compare with this in magnitude are 
those described by Mr. Darwin in his admirable work on 
the geology of South America, and are situated along the 
western slope of the Cordilleras, and in Patagonia and Chili. 
Some of these beds occur of the enormous thickness of six 
thousand feet, and others are eleven hundred miles in sur- 
face extent. 

Dr. Hitchcock adds : " The specimens of this gypsum put 
into my hands correspond with your descriptions. One of 



THE WITCHITA CHAIN. 125 

them, of snowy whiteness, and compact, it seems to me 
might answer for delicate gypseous alabaster, so extensive- 
ly wrought in other lands for monumental purposes. The 
selenite was regarded among the ancients as the most deli- 
cate variety of alabaster, and was employed by the wealthy, 
and in palaces for windows, under the name of Phengiles. 
It has the curious property of enabling a person within the 
house to see all that passes abroad, while those abroad can 
not see what is passing within ; hence Nero employed it in 
his palace. If the splendid plates which you describe oc- 
cur in any quantit}^, it may hereafter be of commercial 
value, as it certainly will be of mineralogical interest." 

One of the most prominent features of the country in the 
Eed Eiver basin is the Witchita chain of mountains. Tlie 
following quotations from my journal, written upon the 
ground, will give my impressions as I passed through them. 

"The chain is about fifty miles in length, and from five 
to fifteen miles wide, running about south 60° west. These 
mountains, and those at the head of the Brazos River, are 
the only elevations of any considerable magnitude in all 
that vast expanse of territory included between the Red 
and the Pecos Rivers. Rising, as they do, in the midst of 
a vast naked prairie, they present a most striking and anom- 
alous feature in the scenery of that otherwise monotonous 
landscape. 

" Their conformation is generally of a coarse, soft, flesh- 
colored granite, the peaks conical, occasionally terminating 
in sharp points, standing at intervals of from one fourth to 
one mile apart. Red River passes directly through the 
western extremity of the chain. 

" The more we have seen of the country about these 
mountains, the more pleased we have been with it. In- 
deed, I have never visited any country that, in mj^ opinion, 

possessed greater natural local advantages for asrricnlture 

I.* 



126 " SOIL AND CLIMATE. 

than this. Bounteous Nature seems here to have strewed 
her favors with a lavish hand, and to have held out every 
inducement for civilized man to occupy it. The numerous 
tributaries of Cache Creek, flowing from granite fountains, 
and winding, like net-work, in every direction through the 
valleys in the mountains — with the advantages of good 
timber, soil, and grass, the pure, elastic, and delicious cli- 
mate, with a bracing atmosphere — all unite in presenting 
rare inducements to the husbandman. It would only be 
necessary for our practical farmers to visit this locality ; 
they could not be otherwise than pleased with it. And 
were it not for the fact that the greater part of the most 
desirable lands lie east of the 100th meridian of longitude, 
and within the limits of that vast territory ceded by our 
government to the Choctaws in 1831, it would be purchased 
and settled by our citizens in a very few years. As it is 
now situated, far beyond the limits of the settlements, and 
directly within the range of the Comanches, it is of no use 
to the Choctaws themselves, as they seldom venture among 
the prairie tribes, and do not even know the character of 
this part of their own territory. They have a superabund- 
ance of fertile lands bordering upon the Red and Canadian 
Eivers, near the white settlements of Texas and Arkansas, 
and they prefer occupying those to going farther out. They 
have thrown aside their primitive habits in a great degree, 
and abandoned the precarious and uncertain life of the 
hunter for the more quiet avocation of the husbandman. 
They look upon the wild Indian in much the same light 
as we do, and do not go among them ; indeed, there is but 
little in common with them and the wild Indians."* 

* The lands included within the Choctaw reseiwation, which are not oc- 
cupied or made use of by tlieni, are embraced within the 97th and 100th 
degrees of west longitude, and are bounded upon the north and south by 
the Canadian and Red Rivers, being about one hundred and eighty miles in 



TIMBER. 127 

The remarks wbicli follow were made while we were 
encamped at an old Witchetaw village near the eastern ex- 
tremity of the mountains. 

" Our camp is upon a branch of Cache Creek, about a 
mile above the village last occupied by the Witchetaws, be- 
fore they left the mountains. Here they lived and planted 
corn for several years, and they exhibited much taste and 
judgment in selecting this site for their town. It is situated 
upon an elevated plateau, directly along the south bank of 
the creek, and commands an extended view of the country 
to the north, south, and east. From its commanding posi- 
tion it is well secured against surprise, and is, by nature, 
one of the most defensible places I have seen. 

"The landscape here presented to the eye has a most 
charming diversity of scenery, consisting of mountains, 
woodlands, glades, water-courses, and prairies, all laid out 
and arranged in such peculiar order as to produce a most 
delightful effect upon the senses. 

" This must have been a favorite spot for the Indians, 
and why they have abandoned it I can not imagine, unless 
it was through fear of the Comanches. 

" The soil here, in point of fertility, surpasses any thing 
we have before seen, and the vegetation in the old corn- 
fields, consisting of rank weeds twelve feet high, was so 
dense that it was difficult to force a horse through it. 

" The timber is sufficiently abundant for all purposes of 
the agriculturist, embracing over-cup (oak), post-oak, black 
walnut, pecan, hackberry, ash, black or Spanish- oak, elm, 
and China. "We found here the wild passion-flower, and a 
beautiful variety of the sensitive plant, which we had not 
before met with. 

length by fifty in width, and constituting an agpjregate of about nine thou- 
sand square miles of valuable and productive lands, or one thousand square 
miles more than the State of Massachusetts. 



128 PETROLEUM. 

"The creek, just above the village, flows directly at the 
base of a perpendicular wall of porphyritic trap, 300 feet 
high, and studded with dwarf cedars, which, taking shallow 
root in the crevices of the formation, receive their meagre 
sustenance from the scanty decomposition of the rocks. 

" This interesting escarpment has a columnar structure, 
with parallel flutings traversing the face in a vertical direc- 
tion from top to bottom, and has the appearance of being 
the vertical section of a round hill that has been cleft asun- 
der, and one half removed. 

" All the sides of this hill, except that upon the creek, 
are smooth, with gentle and easy slopes, covered with grass 
up to the very verge of the acclivity. On riding up the 
smooth ascent of this eminence, and suddenly coming upon 
the edge of the giddy precipice, one involuntarily recoils 
with a shudder at the appearance of this strange freak of 
Nature. Large veins, of quartz traversed this formation, 
and, upon examination, it was found to be cellular, like 
sponge or honey-comb, with the cells filled with liquid 
naphtha, about the consistency of tar, and having a strong 
resinous odor. (It has since occurred to me that this might 
have been the petroleum now so extensively known in 
commerce.) 

" On the 27th of May, shortly after we had pitched our 
tents upon Otter Creek, a large party of Indians made their 
appearance on the opposite bank, and requested us to cut a 
tree for them to cross upon, as they wished to have a 'talk 
with the capitan.' Accordingly, we cut down a tall tree, 
which fell across, the stream, and they came over, and en- 
camped near us. 

"They proved to be a hunting partj^ of Witchetaws, about 
150 in number, and were commanded by an old chief, 'Ca- 
naje-Hexie.' They had with them a large number of 
horses and mules, heavil}^ laden with jerked bnfltalo meat. 



DISCOURAGING ACCOUNTS. 129 

and ten wild horses which, they had lassoed upon the prai- 
I'ie. They said they had been in search of us for several 
days ; having learned we were coming up Eed Eiver, they 
were desirous of knowing what our business was in this 
part of their country. I replied to them that I was going 
to the head of Red River for the purpose of visiting the 
Indians, cultivating their friendship, and delivering to them 
' a talk' from the Great Captain of all the whites, who, in 
token of his kindly feelings, had sent some presents to be 
distributed among such of his Red children as were friends 
to Americans ; and as many of them continue to regard 
Texas as a separate and independent republic, I endeav- 
ored to impress upon them the fact that the inhabitants of 
that state were of the same nation as the whites in other 
parts of the United States. I also told them that all the 
prairie tribes would be held responsible for the depreda- 
tions committed against the people of Texas, as well ~ as 
elsewhere in our territories. I made inquiries concerning 
the country through which we still had to pass in our jour- 
ney. 

"They said we would find one more stream of good wa- 
ter about two days' travel from here ; that we should then 
leave the mountains, and after that find no more fresh wa- 
ter to the sources of the river. The chief represented the 
rivei' from where it leaves the mountains as flowing over 
an elevated, flat prairie country, totally destitute of water, 
wood, or grass, and the only substitute for fuel that could 
be had was the buffalo ' chips.' They remarked in the 
course of the interview that some few of their old men had 
been to the head of the river, and that the journey could 
be made in eighteen days by rapid riding; but the ac- 
counts given by those who had made the journey were of 
such a character as to deter others from attempting it. 
They said we need have no apprehension of encountering 



130 WANT OF WATER. 

Indians, as none ever visited that section. I inquired of 
them if there were not holes in the earth where the water 
remained after rains. They said no ; that the soil was of 
so porous a nature that it soaked up the water as soon as it 
fell. I then endeavored to hire one of their old men to ac- 
company me as guide ; but they said they were afraid to 
go into the country, as there was no water, and they were 
fearful they would perish before they could return. The 
chief said, in conclusion^ that perhaps I might not credit 
their statements, but that I would have abundant evidence 
of the truth of their assertions if I ventured much farther 
with my command. This account of the country ahead of 
us was truly discouraging, and we had any thing but an 
agreeable prospect before us. As the Indians, from their 
own statements, had traveled a great distance to see us, I 
distributed some presents among them, with a few rations 
of pork and flour, for which we received their acknowledg- 
ments in their customary style — by begging for every thing 
else they saw. 

"About 25 miles below this the main river had forked, 
and we had taken the north branch. 

"After passing the mountains, we arrived at a point where 
the branch we were upon again divided into two nearly 
equal branches. 

"The water in the south branch (which I calle"S the 
'Salt Fork') is bitter and nauseating. The water in the 
north branch, which we ascended, was not sweet, but could 
be drank. It was at the confluence 105 feet wide, three 
feet deep, with a rapid current. 

^^ June 1. One of the Delawares caught two bear cubs 
in the mountains to-day, one of which he brought in his 
arms to camp. Ho seems perfectly contented, and we shall 
take the young brute along with us. 

"Our course here leaves the mountains, and we launch 



GAME. 131 

out into the prairie before us, which appears to be an unin- 
terrupted level plain as far as the eye can penetrate. I 
can not leave these mountains without a feeling of sincere 
regret. The beautiful and majestic scenery throughout the 
whole extent of the chain, with the charming glades lying 
between them, clothed with luxuriant sward up to the very 
bases of the rugged sides, besides the many springs of deli- 
cious water bursting forth from the solid walls of granite, 
and bounding along over the debris at the base, forcibly re- 
mind me of my own native hills, and the idea of leaving 
these for the desert plains gives rise to an involuntary feel- 
ing of sadness similar to that I experienced on leaving home. 

" Our course led us up along the North Fork over a very 
monotonous country, with nothing of special interest until, 
on the 4th of June, as I was riding with one of the Dela- 
wares in advance of the train, we suddenly (as we rose upon 
an eminence) came in sight of four buffalo cows, with their 
calves, very quietly grazing in a valley below us. We at 
once put spurs to our horses, and, with our rifles in readi- 
ness, set off at a brisk gallop in pursuit, but, unfortunately, 
the animals had ' the wind' of us, and instantly bounded 
away over the prairie at full speed. We followed about 
three miles, but they had so much the start that we could 
not overtake them without giving our horses more labor 
than we cared about, and so abandoned the chase. 

" Our greyhounds caught two deer in fair chase upon the 
open prairie, and they had several races in pursuit of ante- 
lopes, but had not as yet been able to come up with them. 
We occasionally saw a few wild turkeys, but they were not 
as abundant here as we found them below. There were 
several varieties of birds around our camp, among which 
we observed the white owl, meadow lark (which I have seen 
every where I have traveled), mocking-bird, kingbird, swal- 
low, quail, etc. 



132 BUFFALO. 

" We passed the trail of a large party of Comancbes on 
the 6th, going south with their families and lodges. The 
Comanches, during the past year, have not been friendly 
with the Delawares and Shawnees, and although there have 
as yet been no organized demonstrations of hostilities, they 
have secretly killed several men, and, in consequence, our 
hunters entertain a feeling of revenge toward them. They, 
however, go out alone every day on their hunts, six or 
eight miles from the command, and seem to have no fears 
of the Comanches. They are liable to encounter them at 
any moment, and, being poorly mounted, they could not es- 
cape by running ; their only alternative in such an event 
would be to act on the defensive. I have cautioned them 
several times, but they say they are not afraid to meet any 
of the prairie Indians provided the odds are not greater 
than six to one. They are well armed with good rifles, the 
use of which they understand perfectly, and are very de- 
termined and brave fellows. 

'■'■June 7. Taking two of the Indians this morning, I went 
out for the purpose of making an examination of the sur- 
rounding country, and ascertaining whether good water 
could be found upon our route for our next encampment. 
We had gone about three miles in a westerly direction, 
when we struck a fresh buffalo track leading north ; think- 
ing we might overtake him, we followed up the trace until 
we came near the summit of an eminence upon the prairie, 
when I sent one of the Indians (John Bull) to the top of 
the hill, which was about one fourth of a mile distant, to 
look for the animal. He had no sooner arrived at the 
point indicated than we saw him make a signal for us to 
join him by riding round rapidly several times in a circle, 
and immediately put off" at full speed over the hills. We 
set out at the same instant upon a smart gallop, and on 
reaching the crest of the hill discovered the terrified animal 



A PANTHER. 133 

fleeing at a most furious pace, with John Bull in hot pursuit 
about 500 yards behind him. As we followed on down the 
prairie we had a fine view of the chase. The Delaware was 
mounted upon one of our most fractious and spirited horses, 
that had never seen a buffalo before, and, on coming near 
the animal, he seemed perfectly frantic with fear, making 
several desperate surges to the right and left, any one of 
which must have inevitably unseated his rider had he not 
been a most expert and skillful horseman. Daring the time 
the horse was plunging and making such efforts to escape, 
John, while he controlled him with masterly adroitness, 
seized an opportunity and gave the buffalo the contents of 
his rifle, breaking one of his fore legs, and somewhat re-, 
tarding his speed ; he still kept on, however, making good 
running, and it required all the strength of our horses to 
bring us alongside of him. Before we came up, our most 
excellent hunter, John Bull, had recharged his rifle and 
placed another ball directly back of the shoulder ; but so 
tenacious of life is this animal, that it was not until the oth- 
er Delaware and myself gave him four additional shots that 
we brought him to the ground. 

"On our return we observed a pack of wolves, in com- 
pany with a multitude of ravens, making merry over the 
carcass of the buffalo we had killed in the morning. 

" In the evening, shortly after we had turned out our an- 
imals to graze, and had made every thing snug and com- 
fortable about us, ourselves reclining very quietly after the 
fatigue of the day's march, one of the hunters came into 
camp and informed us that a panther had crossed the creek 
but a short distance above, and was coming toward us. 
This piece of intelligence, as rpay be supposed, created no 
little excitement in our quiet circle. Every body was up 
in an instant, seizing muskets, rifles, or any other weapon 
that came to hand, and, followed by all the dogs in camp, a 

M 



134 TIMID DOGS. 

very general rusb was made toward the spot indicated by 
the Delaware. On reaching the place, we found where the 
animal, in stepping from the creek, had left water upon his 
track, which was not yet dry, showing that he had passed 
within a short time. We pointed out the track to several 
of the dogs, and endeavored, by every means which our in- 
genuity could suggest, to inspire them with some small de- 
gree of that enthusiasm wJiich had animated us. We coax- 
ed, cheered, and scolded, put their noses into the track, 
clapped our hands, pointed in the direction of the trail, hiss- 
ed, and made use of divers other canine arguments to con- 
vince them that there was something of importance on hand, 
but it was all to no purpose. They did not seem to enter 
into th,e spirit of the chase, or to regard the occasion as one 
in which there was much glory to be derived from follow- 
ing in the footsteps of their illustrious predecessor. On the 
contrary, the zeal which they manifested in starting out 
from camp suddenly abated as soon as their olfactories came 
in contact with the track, and it was with very great diffi- 
culty that we could prevent them from running away. At 
this moment, however, our old bear-dog came up, and no 
sooner had he caught a sniff of the atmosphere than, sud- 
denly coming to a stop and raising his head into the air, he 
sent forth one prolonged note, and started off in full cry 
upon the trail. He led off boldly into the timber, followed 
by the other dogs, which had now recovered confidence, 
with the men at their heels, cheering them on and shouting 
most vociferously, each one anxious to get the first glimpse 
of the panther. They soon roused him from his lair, and, 
after making a few circuits around the grove, be took to a 
tree. 

" I was so fortunate as to reach the spot a little in ad- 
vance of the party, and gave him a shot which brought him 
to the ground. The dogs then closed in with him, and oth- 



STRANGE SUPPLY OF WATER, 135 

ers of the party, coming np directly afterward, fired sev- 
eral shots which took effect, and he was dead. He proved 
to be a fine specimen of the North American cougar, meas- 
urins; eio-ht and a half feet from the nose to the end of his 
tail. 

" We encamped one evening upon a small creek which, 
with the exception of some pools of standing water, was 
dry. In the course of an hour, however, some of the men, 
who had been up the creek, came running back into camp 
greatly excited, and crying, "Here comes a plenty of water, 
boys!" And, sure enough, in a few minutes, to our aston- 
ishment and delight (as we were doubtful about having a 
supply), a perfect torrent came rushing down the dry bed 
of the rivulet, filling it to the tops of its banks, and contin- 
ued running, turbid, and covered with drift and froth, as 
long as we remained. Our Delawares looked upon this as 
a special favor from the Great Spirit, and a favorable au- 
gury to the success of our enterprise. To us it was a most 
mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, as there had been 
no rain for three da3'^s, with a cloudless sky. If the stream 
had been of much magnitude, we should have supposed 
that the water came from a distance, where there had been 
rains, but it did not rise over three or four miles from where 
we encamped. I have always since regretted that I did not 
follow up the stream to its source, as I might have discov- 
ered from whence the water came. 

" Upon the Plains south of the Canadian, where I have 
traveled during the summer months, a strong breeze has 
usually sprung up about eight o'clock in the morning, and 
lasted until after night, reaching its maximum intensity 
about three o'clock in the afternoon. This breeze comes 
from the south, and generally rises and subsides with as 
much regularity as the sea-breeze upon the Atlantic coast, 
which fact has given rise to the opinion that it emanates 



136 , PLAN OF CAMP. 

from tlie Gulf of Mexico. However tliis may be, these cool 
and bracing winds temper the atmosphere, heated to inten- 
sity by the almost vertical rays of the sun, rendering it 
comfortable and pleasant even in midsummer. 

'■'■June 11. We crossed Sweetwater Creek at three o'clock 
this morning, and traveled eight miles in a westerly course, 
when we crossed two fresh Indian trails, which, from the 
circumstance of there being no trace of lodge-poles, our 
guide pronounced to have been made by war-parties ; and 
he says that he has, during the day, seen four Indians upon 
a hill in the distance, but they turned on seeing him, and 
galloped off. The fact of their not being disposed to com- 
municate with us looks suspicious, and they may have hos- 
tile intentions toward us ; but, with our customary precau- 
tions, I think we shall be ready to receive them, either as 
friends or enemies. 

"Our usual method of encamping is, where we can find 
the curve of a creek (which has generally been the case), to 
place ourselves in the concavity, with the wagons and tents 
extending around in a semicircle, uniting at each extremity 
of the curve of the creek, so as to inclose a sufficient space 
for the command ; thus we are protected on one side by the 
creek, and upon the other by the line of wagons and tents. 
Immediately after reaching our camping-ground, all the an- 
imals are turned out to graze, under charge of the team- 
sters, who are armed, and remain constantly with them, 
keeping them as near the command as the supply of grass 
will j^ermit. We generally commence the day's march 
about three o'cloclc in" the morning, and are ready to en- 
camp by eleven o'clock ; this gives ample time for the ani- 
mals to graze before night, when they are driven into camp. 
The horses and mules are picketed within the inclosure, 
while the oxen are tied up to the wagons; sentinels arc 
then posted upon each side of the encampment, and kept 



PROPER day's march. 187 

constantly walking in such directions that they may have 
the animals continually in view. 

"Many have supposed that cattle in a journey upon the 
Plains would perform better and keep in better condition 
by allowing them to graze in the morning, before starting 
upon the day's march, which would involve the necessity 
of traveling during the heat of the day. These persons are 
of opinion that animals will only feed at particular hours 
of the day, and that the remainder of the day must be allot- 
ted them for rest and sleep, and that, unless these rules are 
adhered to, they will not thrive. This opinion, however, is, 
I think, erroneous ; and I also think that cattle will adapt 
themselves to any circumstances, so far as regards their 
working hours and their hours of rest. If they have been 
accustomed to labor at particular hours of the day, and the 
order of things is at once reversed, the working hours being 
changed into hours of rest, they may not do as well for a 
few days, but they soon become accustomed to the change, 
and eat and rest as well as before. 

" By starting at an early hour in the morning during the 
summer months, the day's march is over before it becomes 
very warm ; whereas (as I have observed), if the animals 
are allowed to graze before starting, the march must con- 
tinue during the middle of the day, when the animals (par- 
ticularly oxen) will suffer much from the heat of the sun, 
and, so far as my experience goes, will not keep in as good 
condition as when the other plan is pursued. I have adopt- 
ed this course, and -our oxen have continued to improve 
upon it. Another and important advantage to be derived 
from this is found in the fact that the animals, being tied 
up at night, are not liable to be lost or stolen." 

We continued on up the North Fork of Eed River until 
the 16th of June, when we reached the sources of this stream. 
The following is an extract from mv journal of that day : 

M* 



138 SOURCE OF NORTH FORK. 

'"'■June 16. Striking our tents at three o'clock this morn- 
ing, we followed up the south bank of the river, which runs 
in a westerly course for eight miles, when it suddenly turns 
to the southwest, and here the elevated bluffs which we 
have had in view for several days past approach the river 
upon each side, until there is but a narrow gorge or canon 
for the passage of the stream. These bluffs are composed 
of calcareous sandstone and clay, rising precipitously from 
the banks of the stream to the height of three hundred feet, 
when they suddenly terminate in the almost perfectly level 
plain of the 'Llano estacado.' Here the river branches 
out into numerous ramifications, all running into the deep 
gorges of the plain. Taking the largest, we continued up 
it, riding directly in the bed of the stream for about five 
miles, when we reached the source of this branch of the 
river, and, by ascending upon the table lands above, we 
could see the heads of the other branches which we had 
passed a few miles below. 

" The latitude at this place, as determined by several ob- 
servations of Polaris, is 35° 35' 3", and the longitude 101° 
65'. These results make our position only about twenty- 
five miles from the Canadian River; and as I am anxious 
to determine how our observations conform to those we 
made in ascending that stream in 1849,1 projDOse taking ten 
men, and leaving the main body of the command to guard 
our oxen and stores, to make a trip in a due north course 
to the Canadian, This will serve to show the connection 
between that stream and a certain known point upon the 
head of the north branch of Red River, and is, in my opin- 
ion, a geographical item which it is important to establish 
and confirm by actual observation, particularly as the Cana- 
dian has by several travelers been mistaken for Red River. 

" At our encampment of this evening is the last running 
water we have found in ascending this branch of Red River. 



BOTTLE DEPOSITED. 139 

We are near the junction of the last branch of any magni- 
tude that enters the river from the north, and about three 
miles from the point where it debouches from the plains, 
in a grove of large cottonwood-trees upon the soutU bank 
of the river; Under the roots of one of the largest of these 
trees, which stands near the river, and below all others in 
the grove, we buried a bottle containing the following mem- 
orandum : 

" 'On the 16th day of June, 1852, an exploring expedi- 
tion, composed of Captain E. B. Marcy, Captain G. B. McClel- 
lan. Lieutenant J. Updegraff, and Dr. G. C. Shumard, with 
fifty -five men of Company "D," 5th Infantry, encamped 
here, having this day traced the north branch of Red River 
to its sources. Accompanying the expedition were Captain 
J. H. Strain, of Fort Washita, and Mr. J. R. Suydam, of New 
York city.' 

"On the 17th, accompanied by eleven of our party, I 
started in a northerly direction to go in search of the Cana- 
dian River, leaving the main party encamped on Red River. 

"Our route led us immediately out upon the elevated 
plateau of the Staked ?lain, where the eye rested upon no 
object of relief within the scope of vision, and our Dela- 
ware guide, John Bushman, whom I had informed that we 
expected to reach the Canadian that day, expressed great 
incredulity as to the reliance to be placed upon our astro- 
nomical conclusions. He asked me, ' How you know may- 
be so Canadian twenty -five miles?' I informed him that 
this was determined by observations upon the moon and 
stars. The expression of his countenance indicated that 
he regarded us either as ' big medicine men' or fools, and 
when we reached the summit of the plain before mention- 
ed, he turned to me and said, ' Maybe no Canadian there' 
(pointing to the east). It certainly did not look much like 
it; but, after traveling about fifteen miles, our eyes were 



140 McClellan's creek. 

suddenly gladdened by the appearance of a valley before 
us, which I at once recognized as that of the Canadian, and, 
after traveling about ten miles farther, we found ourselves 
upon that stream. 

" This was a matter of much gratification to us, as it con- 
firmed the accuracy of our calculations regarding the geo- 
graphical position of the sources of the North Fork of Eed 
Eiver. John Bushman was evidently greatly astonished at 
the precision of the estimates, and was now prepared to be- 
lieve in our powers to almost any extent. He came to me 
that evening and said, 'I want you, captain, to look at stars 
agin, and tell me where Comanches gone;' and I could not 
persuade him that we were incapable of determining the 
exact location of every Indian camp in the country by sim- 
ply looking at the stars with a telescope. 

" The point where we struck the Canadian is at the mouth 
of a small stream called Sandy Creek, upon the map of the 
road I made from Fort Smith to Santa Fe in 1849, This, 
being near longitude 101° 45', and latitude 35° 58', makes 
our calculations for this and the head of Red Eiver ap- 
proximate very closely. 

"On the 20th of June we turned south toward the Salt 
Fork, and, after going twelve miles, skirting the border of 
the Staked Plain from whence issued the numerous tributa- 
ries of the North Fork, we reached the valley of a very 
beautiful stream, twenty feet wide and six inches deep, 
running rapidly over a gravelly bed, through a valley 
about a mile wide, of sandy soil, with large cottonwood- 
trees along the banks. I have called this ' JSIcClellan's 
Creek,' in compliment to my friend Captain McClellan, 
who I believe to be the first white man that ever set eyes 
upon it. 

" We were happy, on arriving here, to find the water per- 
fectly pure and palatable ; and we regard ourselves as most 



} 




i 



MIRAGE. l-iS 

singularly fortunate in having favorable weatber. The 
rains of the last two days have made the atmosphere de- 
lightfully cool, and afford us water in many places where 
we had no reason to expect it at this season of the year. 

"During the middle of the day, when the earth and the 
adjacent strata of the air had become heated by the almost 
vertical rays of the sun, we observed, as usual, upon the 
'Llano estacado,' aii incessailt tremulous motion in the 
lower strata of the atmosphere, accompanied by a most sin- 
gular and illusive mirage. This phenomenon, which so 
bitterly deluded the French army in Egypt, and has been 
observed in many other places, is here seen in perfection. 

" The very extraordinary refraction of the atmosphere 
upon these elevated plateaus causes objects in the distance 
to be distorted into the most wild and fantastic forms, and 
often exaggerated to many times their true size. A raven, 
for instance, would present the appearance of a man walk- 
ing erect, and an antelope often be mistaken for a horse or 
buffalo. In passing along over this thirsty and extended 
plaiu in a warm day, the eye of a stranger is suddenly glad- 
dened by the appearance of a beautiful lake, with green 
and shady groves directly upon the opposite bank. His 
heart beats with joy at the prospect of speedily luxuriating 
in the cool and delicious element before him, and he urges 
his horse forward, thinking it very strange that he does not 
reach the oasis. At one time he imagines that he has made 
a sensible diminution in the distance, and goes on with re- 
newed vigor and cheerfulness; then again he fancies that 
the object recedes before him, and he becomes discouraged 
and disheartened ; and thus he rides for miles and miles, 
and still he finds himself no nearer the goal than when he 
first saw it; when, perhaps, some sudden change in the 
atmosphere would dissipate the illusion, and disclose to him 
the foct that he had been following a mirage. 



l-itt INDIAN BATTLE-GROUND. 

" On the 22d we struck the principal branch of the Salt 
Fork ■ near where it debouches from the Staked Plain, 
and directly at the source is an elevated hill, with abrupt 
sides, terminating in a level summit, somewhat in the form 
of a truncated cone. 

"We were much gratified in finding the water at the 
head of this branch, as in the North Fork, sweet and whole- 
some. This settles the question that these branches of Red 
Eiver do not take their lise in salt plains, as has been very 
generally supposed. On the contrary, the water at their 
sources, in the eastern borders of the Staked Plain, is as 
pure as can be desired ; and this character continues upon 
all the confluents until they enter the gypsum formation, 
when they become impregnated with salts that impart a 
new character to the water, which continues to its junction 
with the Mississippi. 

" Upon the rocky bluffs bordering the river we found 
silicified wood in great quantities strewed about over a dis- 
tance of two miles. The petrifaction was most perfect, ex- 
hibiting all the fibres, knots, and bark as plainly as in the 
native state, and was quite like cottonwood. 

" Near the place where we pitched our tents on the 22d 
was an old Indian encampment, where John Bushman dis- 
covered that a battle had been fought within the two pre- 
ceding months. The evidences of this were apparent from 
the remains of a large fire upon which the victorious party 
had burned the lodges and other effects of the vanquished. 
Pieces of the lodge poles, and a quantity of fused glass 
beads, with small pieces of iron and other articles pertain- 
ing to their domestic economy, which had partially escaped 
the conflagration, were found scattered about the camp. 

" On the 24th we left the Salt Fork, and, striking south 
over very rough and undulating prairies, "^e, on the 27th, 
came in sight of the valley of the Ke-che-a-qui-ho-no, or 



PRAIKIE DOG TOWN. 



145 



the principal branch of Eed Eiver. Directly in front of 
us we could see the high table lands of the Llano estacado 
towering up some eight hundred feet above the surround- 
ing country, and bordered by precipitous escarpments, cap- 
ped with a stratum of snow-white gypsum, which glistened 
in the sun's rays like burnished silver. 

" Our route from the Salt Fork led us through an almost 
continuous dog town, which has probably suggested the 




PRAIRIE DOG TOWN. 



name the Comanches have applied to the main branch of 
the Red Eiver of Ke-che-a-qui-ho-no, or ' Prairie-Dog-Town 
Eiver.' 

" The river where we struck it was nine hundred yards 
wide, flowing over a sandy bed, with but little water in the 
channel, and the valley was inclosed on each side by rug- 
ged hills and deep gorges, 

■" On the 28th, after marcliing eight miles, we reached the 

N 



J 



146 A GROTTO. 

base of the elevated cliifs that border the Llano estacado, 
which spreads out to the south and west like the steppes 
of Central Asia in an apparently illimitable desert. 

"I supposed, from the appearance of the country in the 
distance, that I should be able to find a passage for our 
wagons along at the foot of these cliffs ; but, on closer ex- 
amination, we found the ground so much cut up by abrupt 
ridges and deep gullies that it was impracticable to take 
our train any farther up this branch of the river. Accord- 
ingly, I determined to leave it here, and, with a small es- 
cort of ten men, to push on and endeavor to reach the 
sources of the river. 

" Taking provisions for six days, packed on mules, we 
started on the 29th, and were obliged to follow directly in 
the bed of the river, as the banks on both sides were so 
rough as to render it very difficult to travel over them. 

"In one of the deep ravines which we encountered on 
the south side of the river we discovered a grotto inclosed 
with gypsum rocks, which appeared to have been worn out 
by the action of water, forming an arched passway. The 
sides were perfectly smooth, and composed of strata of 
three distinct bright colors, green, pink, and white, ar- 
ranged in such order as to give it an appearance of singular 
beauty. 

" We found a small rill of water issuing from this cavern, 
and on tracing it up discovered a spring of very cold water 
bursting out from the solid rock. The day was very warm 
(the thermometer standing at twelve o'clock M. at 104° Fah- 
renheit in the shade), and the reflection of the sun's rays 
from the white sand in the bed of the river made it exceed- 
ingly oppressive. We were much exhausted and very 
thirsty, and we all took huge draughts of this water; but, 
as soon as the cold sensation passed away, we discovered 
that the water was highly charged with salts, and very bit- 



SALTS IN WATER. 147 

ter and unpalatable. Indeed, the water in the river and in 
all the tributaries we passed was of the same character. 
"We bivouacked that night at a small pool of bitter water, 
and our intense thirst caused us to drink it freely, but, in- 
stead of allaying, it only served to increase it. 

"At daylight on the 30th we were in the saddle again, 
and set out at a brisk pace, hoping to find some good water 
during the day. 

" The lofty escarpments which bounded the valley on 
each side rose precipitously from near the water's edge to 
the enormous altitude of from five to eight hundred feet, 
and in many places there was not room for a horse to pass 
between the foot of the acclivitv and the water. 

" It was altogether impossible to travel upon either bank 
of the river, and the only place where a horse could pass 
was directly along the defile of the river bed. We found 
frequent small rivulets flowing into the river through the 
deep glens on each side, but the water in them all was im- 
pregnated with the nauseating salts. A very good imita- 
tion of this compound may be made by dissolving a tea- 
spoonful of Epsom salts in a tumbler of sweet water. 

" Our noon halt was upon the river, and we sent our 
Delawares out in all directions to search for fresh water, but 
they all returned unsuccessful. At this time we had be- 
come so much affected by the frequent and unavoidable 
use of the water that we experienced constant burning 
pains in the stomach, attended with loss of appetite, and 
the most vehement and feverish thirst. We endeavored to 
disguise the taste of the water by making coffee with it, 
but it retained the same disagreeable properties in that form 
that it had in the natural state. 

"At four in the evening we again pushed forward up 
the river, praying most devoutly that we might reach the 
end of the gypsum formation before night, and that the riv- 



148 SUFFERING FROM THIRST. 

er, "which was still of very considerable magnitude, would 
branch out and soon come to a termination. 

" Four miles from our halting-place we passed a large af- 
fluent coming in from the north, above which there was a 
very perceptible diminution in the main stream ; and in go- 
ing a few miles farther, we passed several more, causing a 
still greater contraction in its dimensions. All these afflu- 
ents were similar in character to the parent stream, bor- 
dered with lofty and precipitous bluffs, with gypsum veins 
running through them similar to those upon the main river. 

" Toward evening we arrived at a point where the river 
divided into two forks of about equal dimensions. We 
followed the left, which appeared somewhat the largest, and 
here found the bluffs receding several hundred yards from 
the banks upon each side, leaving a very beautiful and 
quiet little nook, wholly unlike the stern grandeur of the 
rugged defile through which we had been passing. This 
glen was covered with a rich carpet of verdure, and em- 
bowered with the foliage of the graceful china and aspen, 
and its rural and witching loveliness gladdened our hearts 
and refreshed our eyes, long fatigued with gazing upon 
frowning crags and deep, shady ravines, 

"After traveling twenty-five miles we encamped upon 
the main river, which had now become reduced to one 
hundred feet in width, and flowed rapidly over a sandy 
bed. 

"Although we were suffering most acutely from the ef- 
fects of the nauseating and repulsive water in the river, yet 
we were still under the painful necessity of using it. Sev- 
eral of the men had been taken with violent cramps in the 
stomach and vomiting, yet they did not murmur ; on the 
contrary, they were cheerful, and indulged in frequent jokes 
at the expense of those who were sick. The principal top- 
ic of conversation with them seemed to be a discussion of 



PURE WATER AGAIN. . 149 

the relative merits of the different kinds of fancy iced 
drinks which coidd be procured in the cities, and the prices 
that could be obtained for some of them if they were with- 
in reach of our party. Indeed, it seems to me that we were 
not entirely exempt from the agitation of a similar subject; 
and, from the drift of the argument, I have no doubt that a 
moderate quantity of Croton water, cooled with Boston ice, 
would have met with a very ready market in our little 
mess. Indeed, if I mistake not, one of the gentlemen of- 
fered as high as two thousand dollars for a single bucket of 
the pure element ; but, unfortunately for him, this was one 
of those rare occasions in which money was not sufficiently 
potent to obtain the object desired. 

*' We spread our blankets, and endeavored to obliterate 
the sensation of thirst in sleep; but, so far as I was con- 
cerned, my slumbers were continually disturbed by dreams, 
in which I fancied myself swallowing huge draughts of ice- 
water. 

" "We saddled up at a very early hour on the 1st of July, 
and pushed forward up the river for several miles, when 
we passed^ a large affluent putting in from the north. A 
few miles farther brought us to another; and, in the course 
of the forenoon, several tributaries had been passed, which 
reduced the main stream into a narrow channel of only 
twenty feet wide ; and here its bed, which had every where 
below been sandy, suddenly changed to rock ; the water, 
which before had been turbid, flowing clear and rapidly over 
it, and, to our great delight, it was entirely free from salts. 

"After undergoing the most intense sufferings from 
drinking the disgusting fluid below here, we indulged freely 
in the pure and delicious element as we ascended along the 
narrow dell through which the stream found its way. 

" After following up for two miles the tortuous mean- 
derings of the gorge, we reached a point where it became 



150 SOURCE OF RED RIVER. 

SO much obstructed with huge piles of rock that we were 
obliged to leave our animals, and clamber up the remainder 
of the distance on foot. 

" The gigantic escarpments of sandstone, rising to the 
giddy height of 800 feet upon each side, gradually closed 
in as we ascended, until they were only a few yards apart, 
and finally united overhead, leaving a long, narrow corri- 
dor beneath, at the base of which the head spring of the 
principal or main branch of Red River takes its rise. This 
spring bursts out from its cavernous reservoir, and, leaping 
down over the huge masses of rock below, here commences 
its long journey to- unite with other tributaries in making 
the Mississippi the noblest river in the universe. Directly 
at the spring we found three small cottonwood-trees, one 
of which was blazed, and the fact of our having visited the 
place, with the date, marked upon it. 

"On beholding this minute rivulet as it wends its tortu- 
ous course down the steep descent of the canon, it is diffi- 
cult to realize that it forms the germ of one of the largest 
and most important rivers in America, floating steamers 
upon its bosom for nearly 2000 miles, and depositing an 
alluvion along its borders which renders its valley unsur- 
passed for fertility. 

" We took many copious draughts of the cool and re- 
freshing water in the spring, and thereby considered our- 
selves, with the pleasure we received from the beautiful 
and majestic scenery around us, amply remunerated for all 
our fatigue and privations. The magnificence of the views 
that presented themselves to our eyes as we approached 
the head of the river exceeded any thing I had ever be- 
held. It is impossible for me to describe the sensations 
that came over me, and the exquisite pleasure I experi- 
enced as I gazed upon these grand and novel pictures. 

"Thes^e stupendous "escarpments of solid rock, rising .pre- 



SCENERY AT THE SOURCE. 151 

cipitously from the bed of the river to such a height as, for 
a great portion of the day, to exclude fhe rays of the sun, 
were worn away, by the lapse of time and the action of the 
water and the weather, into the most fantastic forms, that 
required but little effort of the imagination to convert into 
works of art, and all united in forming one of the grandest 
and most picturesque scenes that can be imagined. We 
all, with one accord, stopped and gazed with wonder and 
admiration upon a panorama which was now for the first 
time exhibited to the eyes of civilized man. Occasionally 
might be seen a good representation of the towering walls 
of a castle of the feudal ages, with its giddy battlements 
pierced with loopholes, and its projecting watch-towers 
standing out in bold relief upon the azure ground of the 
pure and transparent sky above. In other places, our fan- 
cy would metamorphose the escarpments into a bastion 
front, as perfectly modeled and constructed as if it had been 
a production of the genius of Vauban, with redoubts and 
salient angles all arranged in due order. Then, again, our 
fancy pictured a colossal specimen of sculpture, represent- 
ing the human figure, with all the features of the face dis- 
tinctly defined. This, standing upon its lofty pedestal, 
overlooks the valley, as }£ it had been designed and exe- 
cuted by the Almighty Artist as the presiding genius of 
these dismal solitudes. 

" All here was crude Nature, as it sprung into existence 
at the fiat of the Almighty Architect of the universe, still 
retaining its primeval type, its unreclaimed sublimity and 
wildness, and it forcibly inspired me with that veneration 
and awe which are so justly due to the high antiquity of 
Nature's handiworks, and which seem to increase as we 
consider the solemn and important lesson that is taught us 
in reflecting upon their permanence when contrasted with 
our own fleeting and momentary existence. 



152 RETURN TO CAMP. , 

" We clambered up to tlie summit of the escarpment, 
over the head of the spring, and here found ourselves upon 
the level plain of the Llano estacado. 

"The approximate geographical position of this point, as 
determined bj courses and distances from the place where 
we left the train, is in latitude 3-i° 42' north, and longitude 
103° 7' 11" west; and its elevation above the sea, bj care- 
ful barometric observations, is 2-150 feet. 

" The moment we passed the gypsum formation (about 
three miles from the head of the river) the water became 
pure and sweet. 

"We were undoubtedly the first white men who had 
ever visited the locality, and, from the great difficulty of its 
access, I doubt if any others will go there very soon. 

" Near the head of the river we saw numerous fresh bear 
tracks, and several of the animals themselves, two of which 
we killed, but they generally made their escape into the 
rocky defiles, where we were unable to follow them. 

"Oue of our Delawares (John Bull) had quite an excit- 
ing brush with a large bear, but did not succeed in getting 
alongside of him, as he was mounted upon the same frac- 
tious horse which he rode in the buffiilo chase, and he be- 
came perfectly furious and unn^nageable the moment he 
saw the bear. This is often the case, and there is nothing 
that frightens a horse so much as one of these animals. 

" We returned to our camp where we left the train, at 
the foot of the defile or caQon through which the river 
passed, on the 3d of July, the distance to the head of the 
river being sixty-five miles. " 

I could not determine in my own mind whether this re- 
markable defile had been formed, after a long lapse of time, 
by the continued action of the current, or had been pro- 
duced by some great convulsion of Nature, or whether both 
causes had contributed to its formation, some paroxysmal 



CANONS OF RED RIVER. 153 

convulsion having first given birth to an extensive fissure, 
and the ceaseless erosion of the water having afterward re- 
duced it to its present condition ; but the following remarks 
of the late Dr. Hitchcock upon the subject are quite con- 
clusive. 

" Your account of the remarkable canons of Red River, 
where it comes out from the borders of the ' Llano estaca- 
do,' as given in your lecture before the American Geo- 
graphical and Statistical Society, has been read by me with 
great interest. For several years past I have been engaged 
in studying analogous phenomena to this, which seems to 
me a neglected part of geology. The canons of our south- 
western regions are among the most remarkable examples 
of erosions on the globe, and the one on Red River seems 
to me to be on a more gigantic scale than any of which I 
have found a description. You seem in doubt whether this 
gorge was worn away by the river, or is the result of some 
paroxysmal convulsion. You will allow me to say that I 
have scarcely any doubt that the stream itself has done the 
work. The fact that when a tributary stream enters the 
main river it passes through a tributary caiion, seems to me 
to show conclusively that these gorges were produced by 
erosion, and not by fractures; for how strange would it be 
if fractures should take those ramifications and curvatures 
which a river and its tributaries present. And, moreover, 
I find cases where I can prove, from other considerations, 
that streams of water (existing and ancient rivers) have 
eaten out gorges quite as difficult to excavate as any of the 
canons of the West ; so that, if we must admit that rivers 
have done a work equally great in one case, all presump- 
tion is removed against their doing the same in other cases. 
I have a great number of facts, which I hope to be able, if 
life be spared, to present to the public on this subject, and I 
am very glad to add the canons of Red River to the num- 
ber." 



154 THE KE-CHE-A-QUI-HO-NO. 



CHAPTER VL 

Turning homeward. — Peculiar Basin. — Another Panther killed. — Witchita 
Mountains. — Mount Scott. — Buffalo Chase. — Witchetavv Villages. — Pine 
Soil. — Reported Massacre. — Mexican Prisoners. — Accused of Horse-steal- 
ing. — Arrival at Port Arbuckle. — Anxiety of Friends. — Review of Char- 
acteristics of the Country passed over. — Ranges of the Indians. 

On the 4tli of July we turned our faces homeward, and 
traveled along down the " Ke-che-a-qui-ho-no." Our first 
camp was made at a very peculiar pond of water. It is al- 
most round, about 250 feet in diameter, with the water 30 
feet deep, and perfectly transparent and sweet. The sur- 
face of the water is some 20 feet below the top of the bank, 
the sides of which are nearly perpendicular; and the sur- 
rounding country, for several miles, rises to the height of 
from 100 to 200 feet. As this pond seems to be supplied 
by springs, and has no visible outlet, it- occurred to me that 
there mis^ht be a subterraneous communication which car- 
ried off the surplus water and the earth from the depression 
of the reservoir. 

On approaching this pond previous to our encamping, 
one of the officers and myself, who were in advance of the 
command, espied a huge panther very leisurely walking 
away in an opposite direction ; and as, in hunters' parlance, 
we" had the wind of him," it enabled me to ride sufficient- 
ly near to give him a shot before he discovered us. He 
made a tremendous leap into the air, and, running a short 
distance, fell dead, shot directly through the heart. 

We continued down the river, over an arid, sandy coun- 
tiy, almost entirely destitute of timber or good water, until 




HEAD OF KE-CHE-A-QDI-HO-NO. 



THE WITCHETAWS. 157 

the 15th, when we again entered the Witchita Mountains, 
and skirted along the southeastern base for two days. 

The soil here is of excellent quality, and sustains a 
heavy vegetation. In addition to the advantages of rich 
soil, good timber, and water, which every where abound near 
these mountains, may be added the great salubrity of the 
climate. The atmosphere in these elevated regions is cool, 
elastic, and bracing, and the breezes which sweep across the 
Plains temper the heat of the sun, and render the atmos- 
phere, even in midsummer, cool and comfortable. 

The particular district embracing the Witchita Mount- 
ains has for many years been occupied and (with much jus- 
tice, it seems to me) claimed by the Witchetaw Indians, who 
have a tradition that their original progenitor issued from 
the rocks of these mountains, and that the Great Spirit gave 
him and his posterity the country in the vicinity for a her- 
itage, and here they continued to live and plant corn for a 
long time. 

Notwithstanding this claim of the Witchetaws, which the 
fact of occupancy and possession has guaranteed to them, 
yet the whole of this beautiful country, as far as the 100th 
degree of west longitude, is included in the grant made by 
the United States to the Choctaws, who thereby possess the 
greater part of the lands upon Upper Eed Eiver that are 
really valuable. 

The Witchetaws are an insignificant tribe in point of num- 
bers, not having more than about 500 souls in the nation, 
and are not, of course, prepared to substantiate or enforce 
their title to this country ; and, indeed, I very much doubt 
if they have any claims upon the consideration or generosi- 
ty of our government, being the most notorious and invet- 
erate horse-thieves upon the borders, as the early frontier 
settlers of Texas can testify; and they are only held in 
restraint now by fear of the troops near them. They have 



158 MOUNT SCOTT. 

always been extremely jealous of the motives of the white 
people who have wished to penetrate to the interior of their 
country, and have, upon several occasions, driven off par- 
ties who attempted to examine the country about the 
Witch ita Mountains. 

The Choctaws and Chickasaws do not occupy more than 
one fourth of their reservation, and the remaining three 
fourths is of sufficient dimensions to form a new Territory, 
which is for better adapted to agriculture than any other 
o'f our Territories. 

On the 18th we passed through the mountains and en- 
camped upon the bank of a stream on the north side. Our 
position here was directly at the base of the most elevated 
peak in the Witchita chain, which, in honor of our distin- 
guished lieutenant general, I named " Mpunt Scott." Tow- 
ering as it does above all surrounding eminences, this peak 
presents a very imposing feature in the landscape, and a 
conspicuous landmark for many miles around. The altitude 
above the base, as determined with the sextant, is 1135 feet. 

To the north of Mount Scott lies one of the most beau- 
tiful valleys! ever saw. It is about three miles wide, in- 
closed between two ranges of mountains, and through it 
winds a lovely stream of pure water about fifty yards wide, 
the lively current of which rushes wildly down over an al- 
most continuous succession of rapids and rocky defiles. It 
is fringed with gigantic pecan, over-cup, white ash, elm, and 
hackberry trees. About the base of the mountains we found 
the post-oak, and toward their summits the red cedar grows. 

While encamped at this place, I took my rifle, and, 
mounting a small Indian pony belonging to my servant, 
started up the creek for the purpose of hunting deer. I had 
only gone about two miles, when I suddenly discovered a 
buffalo bull cropping the grass under some oaks near the 
creek. No sooner, however, did I see him, than, raising his 



INDIAN VILLAGES. 159 

head, and giving one look in the direction from which I 
was approaching, he set off at a spanking gallop over the 
prairie. I applied the rowels most vigorously to the di- 
minutive beast I bestrode, and endeavored, by making a 
cut-off over the hills, to get within rifle range, but the ut- 
most efforts of the pony were unequal to the task, and all 
I could do was to give him a running salute as he passed 
at 200 yards distance. 

On the 19th, as we were passing along a small tributa- 
ry of the Witchita called Kush Creek, we suddenly came in 
sight of several squaws, who were collecting the tall grass 
which grows along the banks of the creek. They no soon- 
er espied us than they jumped upon their horses, and were 
about making off. Some of them, however, stopped at the 
command of our interpreter, while one or two galloped away 
in the direction of their village to give notice of our ap- 
proach. They proved to be Witchetaws and Wacos, and, in- 
forming us that their villages were about four miles in ad- 
vance, invited us to pay them a visit. "We passed through 
the villages, which lay directly in our route, and encamped 
about half a mile below them, in the valley of Eush Creek. 

Immediately on our arrival we were accosted by a large 
crowd of men, who were anxious to learn where we had 
been, and whether we had met with aay Comanches ; and 
as it was very seldom that any whites had ever visited them 
before, they seemed very glad to see us, probably anticipa- 
ting presents. 

There were two villages here, occupied by the two tribes 
just mentioned. They were situated in the rich and fer- 
tile valley of Rush Creek, where they cultivated corn, peas, 
beans, pumpkins, and melons. They had no agricultural 
implements except a small hoe, with which they prepared 
the ground for the reception of the seed, and performed 
all other work in the cultivation of the crop. The prolific 



160 LODGES. 

nature of the soil gave them bountiful returns, and were it 
not for their improvident natures, thej might, with little 
labor, have sufficient for the whole year. But, like other 
Indians, they only cared for the present, and, from the time 
the corn was fit for roasting, they were continually eating 
and feasting until it was consumed. 

The village of the Witchetaws had 42 lodges, each con- 
taining two families of about ten persons. These lodges 
are made by erecting a frame-work of poles, placed in a cir- 
cle in the ground with the tops united in an oval form, and 
bound too;ether with numerous withes or wattles, the whole 
nicely thatched with grass ; and, when completed, it makes 
a very commodious and comfortable domicil. The interior 
arrangements are such that every person has a bunk, raised 
from the ground and covered with buffalo hides, forming a 
couch which is far from being uncomfortable. When seat- 
ed around their fires in the centre of the lodges, they have 
an air of domestic happiness about them which I did not 
expect to find. 

The lodges are about 25 feet in diameter at the base, 
25 feet high, and in the distance have very much the ap- 
pearance of a group of haystacks. "With the exception 
of a few families that live upon the Canadian, the whole 
Witchetaw nation is concentrated at this place ; their num- 
bers do not exceed 500 souls. They have, during the early 
settlement of Texas, given more trouble to the people upon 
the northern borders of that state than any other Indians. 
They have no regard for truth, will steal, and are wholly 
unworthy of confidence, and their vicious propensities are 
now only kept in check from fear. 

Living, as they do, between the white settlements and 
the prairie tribes, they are at the mercy of both ; they seem 
to be conscious of this fact, and express a desire to be on 
terms of friendship with all their neighbors. x\t my ur- 



KEPORTEI) MASSACRED. IGl 

gent request they presented us with several bushels of green 
corn, which was very acceptable, as we had seen no veg- 
etables for several months. 

The Wacos live about a mile from the Witchetaws, in 
a village constructed like the other. There are 20 lodges 
in this village, and about 200 souls. Their habits and cus- 
toms are similar to the Witchetaws, with whom they fre- 
quently intermarry, and are upon the best and most friendly 
terms. 

Both of these tribes subsist for a great portion of the 
year upon buffalo and deer, and wear the buffalo robes like 
the Comanches. They also use the bow and arrow for kill- 
ing game ; some of them, however, are provided with rifles, 
and are good shots. They have a large stock of horses 
and mules, many of which are the small Spanish breed 
with the Mexican brand upon them, and^have probably 
been obtained from the prairie tribes ; while others are 
large, well -formed animals, and have undoubtedly been 
stolen from the border whites. 

We learned from these Indians, much to our surprise, 
that a report had been made to the commanding officer of 
Fort Arbuckle, by a Keechi Indian, to the effect that our 
whole party had been overpowered and massacred by the 
Comanches near the head of Eed River. 
. The account given by the Indian was so circumstantial 
and minute in every particular, showing a perfect knowl- 
edge of all our movements, with our numbers and equip- 
ments, that the information was evidently communicated 
by persons who had been near us, and observed our move- 
'mcnts. This accounted for the fact of the Indians avoid- 
ing us upon all occasions. 

They probably regarded us as out on a hostile expedi- 
tion, and may have supposed that the report of our mas- 
sacre would deter other troops from following us. 



162 WHITE PRISONEES. 

The old chief To-se-quasli informed us that Pah-hah- 
eu-ka's band of " Middle Comanches," in consequence of 
some of their people having been killed near one of our 
military posts in Texas, were greatly exasperated, and 
would fight the whites whenever they met them. 

The following morning I sent for the chiefs of the two 
villages, for the purpose of endeavoring to persuade them 
to surrender to us two Mexican prisoners in their posses- 
sion, one a man about forty years of age, and the other a 
boy of fifteen. 

The man had been with the Indians since he was a 
child, and said he did not wish to leave them ; that he had 
become as great a rascal as any of them (to which I gave 
full credence), and should not feel at ho.me any where else. 

It appeared, however, that the boy had only been with 
them a few months. He stated that he was kidnapped by 
the Kioways from his home near Chihuahua; that, in con- 
sequence of their brutal treatment, he escaped, and made his 
way to the Witchita Mountains, where a Witchetaw hunt- 
er found him in nearly a famished state, and brought him 
to this place. He said he had been kindly treated by the 
Witchetaws, but was anxious to leave them and go with us. 
He appeared to be very intelligent, and could read and 
write in his own language. 

In a talk with the chiefs, I told them that the Ameri-. 
can people were now on terms of friendship with the Mex- 
icans, and that by treaty we had obligated ourselves to re- 
turn to them all prisoners in the hands of Indians in our 
territory, and to prevent farther depredations being com- 
mitted upon them : that the principal chief of the whites 
(the President) would not regard any tribe of Indians as 
friends who acted in violation of this treaty ; that he con- 
fidently hoped and expected all the tribes who were friend- 
ly to our people would comply strictly with the require- 



STEALING HORSES. 163 

ments of the treaty, and give up all prisoners in their pos- 
session. I then requested them to release to me the boy, 
and told them if they did this I should make them some 
presents of articles that had been sent out by the President 
for such of his Red children as were his friends. They hes- 
itated for a long time, stating that the boy belonged to a 
Waco, and he loved him so much that it was doubtful if he 
could be persuaded to part with him. Whereupon I told 
them that if they released the boy quietly, I should reward 
them ; but otherwise I had determined to take him from 
them by force, and if compelled to resort to this course, 
should, give them nothing in return. This appeared to 
have the desired effect, and they said if I would make the 
family into which he had been adopted a few presents, in 
addition to what I had promised them, they would release 
him. I accordingly distributed the presents, and took pos- 
session of the boy. Upon turning him over to us they di- 
vested him of the few rags of covering that hung about his 
person,_and reluctantly gave him to us; and he made his 
exit from the Witchetaw nation in the same costume in 
which he entered the world. We soon had him comforta- 
bly clothed, and he was much delighted with the change. 

While we were out on the Plains we had found two 
Indian horses, and had them in our possession on our ar- 
rival at the Witchetaw villages. 

One of the officers of our party had, previous to our de- 
parture from Fort Belknap, lost a very fine horse, and he 
had discovered subsequently that some of To-se-quash's 
band had stolen it. I mentioned the circumstance to the 
chief, and required him either to return the horse or give 
another in place of it. At first he denied that his people 
had taken the horse ; but, upon our showing conclusively 
that such was the case, he acknowledged the act, but said 
that we had stolen two of their horses, and when those were 



164 OBITUARY NOTICES. 

returned he would restore ours. It appeared tlaat some of 
their hunters had lost two horses which we had found, and, 
although we did not look upon the two cases as being ex- 
actly parallel, yet we returned one of their horses, and gave 
the other to the lieutenant. 

About daylight on the 28th the party marched into Fort 
Arbuckle, where we found our friends much astonished 
and delighted at our sudden reappearance among them, 
when they had supposed us all massacred by the Co- 
manches. 

The report had been generally believed by the officers, 
and the commanding officer at Fort Arbuckle had made an 
official report of the circumstances to the War Department. 
We immediately dispatched letters to our friends, inform- 
ing them of our safety, and, after making the necessary ar- 
rangements for returning the escort to Fort Belknap, I set. 
out for Washington. 

On reaching home, I learned that my father's family had 
been so fully convinced of the truth of the absurd .rumors 
in regard to us that they had all put on mourning at- 
tire, and a funeral sermon had been preached upon the oc- 
casion. Besides this, I had the novel satisfaction of reading 
in the papers several quite complimentary obituary articles 
upon the death of Captain Marcy. 

In a comprehensive review of the physical characteris- 
tics of the particular section of Red Biver which is com- 
prised within the limits of the district assigned to the atten- 
tion of the expedition, it will not perhaps be considered 
irrelevant to make a few general observations upon the 
more prominent features of the country bordering upon 
this stream, from its confluence with the Mississippi to its 
sources. It will be observed, by reference to a map of the 
country embracing the basin of this river, that in ascending 
from the mouth, its general direction as high as Fulton, 



TOPOGRAPHY. 165 

Arkansas, is nearly north and south ; that here it suddenly 
changes its course, and maintains a direction almost due 
east and west to its sources. One of the first peculiarities 
which strikes the mind on a survey of the topography of 
this extensive district of country is the general uniformity 
of its surface : with the exception of the Witchita range, no 
extensive chains of lofty mountains diversify the perspec- 
tive, and but few elevated hills rise up to relieve the mo- 
notony of the prospect. Another distinguishing feature of 
this river is, that the country on its upper waters differs in 
every respect from that in the vicinity of its mouth. The 
valley is found to comprise two great geographical sections, 
each having physical characteristics entirely distinct from 
the other. The main branch of the river, from the point 
where it debouches out of the Staked Plain, flows through 
an arid prairie country almost entirely destitute of trees, 
over a broad bed of light and shifting sands, for a distance, 
measured upon its sinuosities, of some 500 miles. This 
country, for the most part, is subject to periodical seasons 
of drought, which preclude the possibility of cultivation ex- 
cept by means of artificial irrigation. It then enters a coun- 
try covered with forest-trees of gigantic dimensions, grow- 
ing upon an alluvial soil of the most pre-eminent fertility, 
which sustains a very diversified sylva, and affords to the 
planter the most bountiful returns of all the products suit- 
ed to this latitude. On entering this section of the river 
we find that the borders contract, and the water, for a great 
portion of the year, washes both banks, at a high stage, car- 
rjnng away the loose alluvium from one side and deposit- 
ing it upon the other in such a manner as to produce con- 
stant changes in the channel, and to render the navigation 
difficult. This character prevails through the remainder 
of its course to the Delta of the Mississippi, and throughout 
this section it is subject to heavy inundations, which often 



166 CHARACTER OF RIVER COURSE. 

flood the bottoms to sucli a degree as to produce very seri- 
ous consequences to the planters, destroying their crops, 
and, upon subsiding, occasionally leaving a deposit of white 
sand over the surface, rendering it thenceforth entirely bar- 
ren and worthless. 

Below the great raft a chain of lakes continues to skirt 
the river for more than 100 miles: these are supposed to 
have been formed in the ancient channels and low grounds 
of former streams, whose discharge had gradually been ob- 
structed by an embankment formed of the sedimentary 
matter brought down the river from above. 

These lakes are from five to fifty miles in length, from 
a quarter to three miles wide, and are filled and emptied 
alternately as the floods in Eed River rise and fall ; they 
serve as reservoirs, which, in the inundations of the banks 
of the river, receive a great quantity of water, and, as it sub- 
sides, empty their contents gradually, thereby tending to 
impede the rapid discharge of the floods upon the Delta. 
Like all rivers of great length which drain a large extent 
of country. Red River is subjected to periodical seasons of 
high and low water. The floods occur at very uniform 
epochs, but the quantity and elevation of the water, as well 
as its continuance at a high stage, vary constantly. 

During the winter the water often remains high for sev- 
eral months, but the heavy rise which has almost invariably 
been observed during the month of June often subsides in 
a very few days. 

The estimated distance, by the meanderings of the stream, 
from the mouth to Preston, Texas, is 1600 miles, and from 
this point to the sources of the main branch 500 more, 
making the entire length of the river 2100 miles. 

On emerging from the timbered lands upon Red River 

■ into the Great Plains, we pass through a strip of forest called 

the Cross Timbers. This extensive belt of woodland, which 



VEGETATION. 167 

forms one of the most prominent and anomalous features 
upon the face of the country, is from five to thirty miles 
wide, and extends from the Arkansas Eiver in a southwest- 
erly direction to the Brazos, some 400 miles. 

At six different points where I have passed through it, 
I have found it characterized by the same peculiarities ; 
the trees, consisting principally of post-oak and black-jack, 
standing at such intervals that wagons can without diffi- 
culty pass between them in any direction. The soil is thin, 
sandy, and poorly watered. This forms a boundary-line, 
dividing the country suited to agriculture from the great 
prairies, which for the most part are arid and destitute of 
timber. It seems to have been designed as a natural bar- 
rier between civilized man and the savage, as upon the east 
side there are numerous spring-brooks flowing over a high- 
ly prolific soil, with a superabundance of the best of timber, 
arid an exuberant vegetation, teeming with the delightful 
perfume of flowers of the most brilliant hues ; here and 
there interspersed with verdant glades and small prairies, 
affording inexhaustible grazing, and the most beautiful nat- 
ural meadows that can be imagined ; while on the other 
side commence those barren and desolate wastes, where but 
few small streams greet the eye of the traveler, and these 
are soon swallowed up by the thirsty sands over which 
they flow. Here but little woodland is found, except on 
the immediate borders of the water-courses. 

From the point where Red River leaves the timbered 
lands, the entire face of the country, as if by the wand of a 
magician, suddenly changes its character. The bluffs now 
approach nearer the river, and the alluvial bottoms, which 
below here have been exceedingly rich and productive, con- 
tract, and do not support that dense and rank vegetation 
which characterizes the lower portion of the valley. The 
undergrowth of cane-brakes and vines disappears, and is no 



168 FAVORITE INDIAN RESORT, 

more seen throughout the entire extent of the valley. The 
lands adjacent gradually rise, and exhibit broad and eleva- 
ted swells of surface, with spacious valleys intervening, and 
the soil continues to become more and more sterile as we 
ascend, until we reach the 101st degree of latitude. From 
this point, with but few exceptions, there is no more arable 
land. 

The Comanches and Kiowas resort in great numbers to 
the waters of the North Fork of Eed Kiver. Vestiges of 
their camps were every where observed along the whole 
course of the valley ; and the numerous stumps of trees 
which had been cut down by them at different periods in- 
dicated that this had been a favorite resort for them during 
many years. 

In several places we found camps that had only been 
abandoned a few days, and some where the fires were still 
burning. From the great extent of surface over which the 
grass was cropped at some of these places, and from the 
multitude of tracks, it was evident that these Indians were 
supplied with an immense number of horses ; and they had 
been, without doubt, attracted here by the superior quality 
of the grass, and the abundance of the sweet Cottonwood, 
upon the bark of which they feed their horses in the winter 
season. 

Should the government authorities ever have occasion 
to communicate with these Indians, many of them can be 
found here during the autumn and winter months. In the 
summer season they travel north in pursuit of the buffalo, 
generally ranging between the North Fork of the Canadian 
and the Arkansas Eiver. 

The elevated table lands in which Red Eiver, Brazos, 
and Colorado take their rise, extend from the Canadian 
Eiver in a southerly course to near the Eio Grande, some 
four hundred miles, between the 32d and 37th parallels of 



THE STAKED PLAIN. 169 

latitude. In places it is nearly two hundred miles wide, 
and is embraced within the 101st and lOlth meridians of 
longitude. Its elevation above the sea is two thousand four 
hundred and fifty feet at the head of Eed River. It is very 
level, smooth, and firm, and spreads out in every direction 
as far as the eye can reach, without a tree, shrub, or any 
other herbage to intercept the vision. The traveler, in 
passing over it, sees nothing but one vast, dreary, and mo- 
notonous waste of barren solitude. It is an ocean of desert 
prairie, where the voice of man is seldom heard, and where 
no living being permanently resides. The almost total ab- 
sence of water causes all animals to shun it ; even the In- 
dians do not venture to cross it except at two or three 
points, where they find a few small ponds of water. I was 
told in New Mexico that, many years since, the Mexicans 
marked out a route with stakes across this plain, where 
they found water ; and hence the name by which it is 
known throughout Mexico, of " El Llano estacado," or 
the " Staked Plain." 

P 



170 ' INDIAN RESERVATIONS. 



CEAPTER VII. 

INDIAN RESERVATIONS. 

Arrival at Fort Belknap. — Troubles of the Small Tribes of Texas. — Jose 
Maria. — Council. — Major Neighbors. — Wolf Dance. — Comanche Visit to 
the Tonkawas. — Admiration for the Major's Wardrobe. — Enlists in a 
War Expedition. — Little Witchita River. — Big Witchita River. — Perilous 
Position of Major Neighbors. — Head of Big Witchita. — Bad Water. — 
Reach Brazos River. — Head of the Brazos. — Abundance of Game. — Ke- 
tumsee. — Clear Fork of the Brazos. — Council. — Location of the Reserva- 
tions. — Summary. — Double Mountain Fork. — Mesquit Tree. — Mcsquit 
Gum. — Civilizing Comanches. 

In 1853, the Legislature of Texas passed an act authoriz- 
ing the general government to have selected and surveyed, 
from any vacant lands within the limits of the state, reser- 
vations amounting to twelve leagues, for the exclusive use 
of the Indians inhabiting that Territory. 

I was, in 1854, selected by the War Department to go out 
into the unsettled parts of the state, and, in conjunction with 
Major Neighbors, special agent for those Indians, to locate 
and survey these reservations. 

I had already explored a great portion of Northern and 
Western Texas, and was perfectly familiar with the charac- 
ter of the country upon Red River, Trinity, some sections 
of the Brazos, and Colorado ; but up to that time there was 
no record of any white man having explored the Brazos 
or the Big Witchita Rivers to their sources. As these 
streams were included within the limits of Texas, and as I 
deemed it desirable to locate the Indians as far as possible 
away from the white settlements, I determined to explore 



INDIANS IN TEXAS. 171 

the streams alluded to. Accordingly, after procuring a suit- 
able escort and outfit, I proceeded to Fort Belknap, on the 
Brazos River, where I was joined by Major Neighbors, with 
several Delawares for guides, interpreters, and hunters. 

The Indian tribes in Texas at that time were the South- 
ern Comanches, Witchetaws, Wacos, Towackanies, lonies, 
Anahdakas, Caddos, Tonkawas, and Keechis. 

These Indians, with the exception of the Comanches, 
constituted minute remnants of what were once formidable 
tribes, but now the aggregate of their slender numbers would 
hardly reach 2500 souls. 

The borderers of Texas have often made war upon them 
without the slightest provocation, and have, time and time " 
again, robbed them of their fields, and forced them to aban- 
don their agricultural improvements, and remove farther 
and farther away as the white settlers encroached upon 
them. They have been robbed, murdered, and starved, 
until they have been reduced to mere skeletons of nomi- 
nal tribes, which, when we went among them, were so much 
dishearteiied and discouraged that they were perfectly Will- 
ing to submit to any change that held out to them the least 
guarantee of security. 

These tribes are disposed to live in peace and harmony 
with the whites, and all they ask is to be allowed to cultivate 
their little patches of ground without farther molestation. 

They all possess a greater or less number of horses, and 
many of their young men follow the chase, while the old 
men, women, and children stay at home, and raise corn, 
beans, peas, watermelons, squashes, etc. 

They have, as a general rule, kept their races pure and 
unadulterated from admixture with the whites, yet it is said 
that many of their women are far from being chaste. 

Soon after our arrival at Fort Belknap, Major Neigh- 
bors and myself called the chiefs of the small tribes togeth- 



172 JOSE MARIA. 

er, and held a council with them concerning the settlement 
upon the new reservations. 

The lonies and Anahdakas were represented by their 
chief Jose Maria, who has the blood of both tribes in his 
veins. He was a fine specimen of his race, about sixty 
years of age, with an erect, elastic cai'riage, and a dignified 
and commanding demeanor. 

A young and very intelligent chief, named Tiner, who 
commands that portion of his tribe living upon the Brazos 
Eiver, appeared for the Caddos. 

The Witchetaws and Wacos were represented in the per- 
son of an old chief, called Ock-a-quash, a full-blooded 
Witchetaw, who contends with another chief, "Oc/ie-ras/i," 
for the precedency of rank. 

A subordinate chief or captain, called Utsiocks^ was the 
representative of the Towackanies. 

Major Keighbors and myself, after the council was con- 
vened, informed the Indians that we had been sent out by 
the United States authorities to locate reservations for 
them, and that the government expected, as soon as this 
was done, they would go upon the lands, and there make 
their permanent abodes. 

Jose Maria stated tfeat he and his people were perfectly 
well aware that their Great Father (the President) -had 
abundant power to send them wherever he cliose ; but, if it • 
was convenient, he would prefer having their lands assign- 
ed to them below Fort Belknap, upon the Brazos. That, if 
this favor was granted him, as soon as the lands were sur- 
veyed and marked out, he should be ready to take posses- 
sion of them with his followers. He appeared to have the 
welfare of his tribe at heart, and wished to get the best lo- 
cation of lands possible for them. He says his people 
have a tradition that they originally emanated from the hot 
springs of Arkansas; that from them they moved to Red 



A PERSECUTED PEOPLE. 173 

River, in the vicinity of Natchitoches, where they resided 
many years, but were driven by the whites from that sec- 
tion of country to the Brazos, where they had lived ever 
since. That they had been driven from their homes several 
times by the whites since they came upon the Brazos, and 
that they now cherished the hope that their troubles were 
ended, and that they would in future have permanent 
homes for their families. He added that he would prefer 
to be settled as near the fort as"possible, in order that he 
might receive protection against the incursions of the prai- 
rie tribes. That heretofore he had had his enemies, the 
pale-faces, on one side of him, and those lawless robbers, 
the Comanches, on the other ; but that, of the two evils, he 
rather preferred being near the former, as they generally 
allowed him to eat a portion of what he raised, but that 
the Comanches took every thing ; and although the whites 
had heretofore been equally prone to make war upon them, 
yet, if they must die, they should prefer to make their en- 
trance into the spirit land with full bellies, and for this rea- 
son he would, if it was agreeable to us, take his chances on 
the Brazos, near the fort. 

These views were concurred in by Tiner and Ock-a- 
quash. The chief of the Towackanies said they were not 
authorized to enter into any definite arrangements for their 
people, but would go home and lay the proposition before 
them, when they would decide whether they would remain 
where they were in the Choctaw nation, or remove into 
Texas. 

The Tonkawas were not represented in the council, and, 
indeed, they were generally regarded as renegades and 
aliens from all social intercourse with the other tribes. 
They were more like the Digger Indians of the Rocky 
Mountains than any others I have met with, never attempt- 
ing to cultivate the soil or build houses. They lived in 



174 MAJOR NEIGHBORS, 

temporary burk or brusli tenements, affording but little pro- 
tection from the weather, and derived a miserable, meagre 
subsistence from fish, small animals, reptiles, roots, or any 
thing else that afforded the least nutriment. They were 
the most ragged, filthy, and destitute Indians I have seen ; 
and their ideas of comfort and their manner of living are 
but one grade above those of the brutes. Indeed, the fol- 
lowing incident, which was related to me by my friend and 
associate. Major Neighbors, would rather favor the hj^Doth- 
esis that in their own judgment, at least, there may be some 
remote consanguinity between them and a very ignoble 
quadruped. 

It appears that, during the existence of the Eepublic of 
Texas, the major was appointed agent for the Tonkawas, 
and went out into the Plains and took up his abode with 
them. After about a year he succeeded in gaining their 
confidence, and ingratiated himself into especial good stand- 
ing and favor with the principal chief, who manifested 
every disposition to oblige him whenever an opportunity 
offered. 

These Indians, in common with all the aborigines of this 
continent, were eminently superstitious, believing in the 
agency of invisible spirits in controlling the every-day af- 
fairs of life, and in the efficacy of " medicine-bags" and 
charms in healing diseases, etc. They also, like the other 
tribes, had their national dances for different important oc- 
casions, and among these ceremonies was one which seem- 
ed to me very curious, and entirely different from any oth- 
^ er I had heard of It was called the " Wolf Bance,^^- and 
was intended to commemorate the history of their origin 
and creation. Their traditions have handed down to them 
the idea that the original progenitor of the Tonkawas 
was brought into this world through the agency of the 
wolves. 



WOLF DANCE. 177 

The dance, is always conducted witli the utmost solemni- 
ty and secrecy, and with all the pomp and ceremony their 
limited means allows ; and it was only by the most urgent 
entreaty, and the exercise of all his influence with the chief, 
that he was permitted to become a spectator upon the im- 
portant occasion, and then upon the express condition that 
it should be kept secret from the other Indians. 

Before the performance commenced he was clandestinely 
introduced into a large dance-lodge, where he was secreted 
by the chief in such a position that he could observe what 
was going on without himself being seen. 

Soon after this, about fifty warriors, all dressed in wolf 
skins from head to feet, so as to represent the animal very 
perfectly, made their entrance upon all-fours in single file, 
and passed around the lodge, howling, growling, and mak- 
ing other demonstrations peculiar to that carnivorous quad- 
ruped. 

After this had continued for some time, they began to 
put down their noses and sniff the earth in every direc- 
tion, until at length one of them suddenly stopped, uttered 
a shrill cry, and commenced scratching the ground at a 
particular spot. The others immediately gathered around, 
and all set to work scratching up the earth with their 
hands, imitating the motions of the wolf in so doing; and, 
in a few minutes, greatly to the astonishment of the major, 
they exhumed from the spot a genuine live Tonkawa, who 
had previously been interred for the performance. 

As soon as they had unearthed this strange biped, they 
ran around, scenting his person and examining him through- 
out with the greatest apparent delight and curiosity. The 
advent of this curious and novel creature was an occasion 
of no ordinary moment to them, and a council of venerable 
and sage old wolves was at once assembled to determine 
what disposition should be made of him. 



178 VISIT OF COMANCHES. 

The Tonkawa addressed them as follows: "You have 
taken me from the spirit land where I was contented and 
happy, and brought me into this world where I am a stran- 
ger, and I know not what I shall do for subsistence and 
clothing. It is better you should place me back where 
you found me, otherwise I shall freeze or starve." 

After mature deliberation the council declined returning 
him to the earth, and advised him to gain a livelihood as 
the wolves did ; to go out into the wilderness, and rob, kill, 
and steal wherever opportunity presented. They then 
placed a bow and arrows in his hands, and told him with 
these he must furnish himself with food and clothing ; that 
he could wander about from place to place like the wolves, 
but that he must never build a house or cultivate the soil ; 
that if he did he would surely die. ^^ 

This injunction, the chief informed the major, had al- 
ways been strictly adhered to by the Tonkawas. 

The Tonkawas, in point of numbers when compared 
with the Comanches, are a very insignificant tribe ; and the 
latter, whenever they come in contact, always exercise a 
most arbitrary and domineering control over them. As 
an instance of this, while my friend Neighbors was quar- 
tered with them, a war-party of forty Comanches, led by 
the chief Mo-ko-cho-pe, came into camp, and, riding up to 
the chief's lodge, ordered him, in a most abrupt and dicta- 
torial manner, to take charge of their horses and prepare 
supper for them, as they proposed spending the night 
there. Every thing they directed was promptly done, even 
to furnishing them with forty of their most attractive girls, 
which, according to the customs of some of the tribes at 
that period, was regarded as essential to perfect hospitality. 

In the mean time the major was endeavoring to place 
himself on as favorable a footing as possible with the chief, 
telling him who he was, and that the authorities of the re- 



DENUDED AGENT. 179 

public desired to establish and preserve peaceable relations 
with all the prairie tribes, but more especially with the Co- 
manches. 

The chief did not exactly respond to these friendly sen- 
timents ; on the contrary, he said he believed the whites 
were generally great rascals; nevertheless, he acknowledged 
that my friend appeared to be an exception to the rule, and 
that he was rather inclined to like him than otherwise ; and 
he even condescended to express considerable admiration 
for the new coat he wore. The major, understanding the 
import of the compliment, at once pulled off the garment 
and gave it to him. Another Indian then came up and 
gave his especial approbation to the cut of his vest, another 
considered his pants very becoming, while others thought 
his cravat, boots, and stockings were very comfortable. 
All of these articles were taken off and distributed as they 
were mentioned, until at length the agent of the Lone-star 
republic found himself divested of all his apparel, with the 
exception of his linen shirt, out of a wardrobe which he 
had but recently procured from Austin. 

The figure which the warriors cut with his garments 
must have been ludicrous in the extreme ; and the major 
said that, notwithstanding he was almost in a state of na- 
ture himself, yet, when he saw one of these people, with only 
a satin vest, or a coat, pants, or cravat, strutting about with 
all the pride of a city exquisite, he was unable to pre- 
serve his dignity, and laughed most heartily. 

After they had stripped hira of every thing they could 
get, they applauded his liberality in the highest terms, and 
acknowledged that he was a first-rate fellow ; indeed, they 
thought he was almost good enough to be a Comanche ; 
and, as an evidence of their good opinion, they were willing 
he should join them in the horse-stealing expedition upon 
which they were then bound; and, as an incentive to his 



180 DEPARTURE FROM FORT BELKNAP. 

ambition, they promised, in the event of his good behavior, 
that they would give him a Comanche wife, and adopt him 
into the tribe on their return. 

He knew the effect of declining this flattering offer would 
be to incur their displeasure, and set out with them, determ- 
ined to make his escape the first opportunity that offered. 

After traveling several days they arrived at a Mexican 
ranch, where there were large herds of cattle, and, as they 
were quite hungry, the major, at the request of the chief, ap- 
plied to the proprietor for some beef, and promised him 
payment through the Indian Bureau on his return to Aus- 
tin. The old man, however, declined letting his beef go 
unless the money was paid upon the spot. When this was 
reported to Mo-ko-cho-pe, he went to the Mexican himself, 
and told him that if he delivered to them two beeves with- 
in half an hour's time it might be well with him, but if the 
beeves were not turned over at the time named he would 
burn his ranch and destroy all his cattle. 

This had the desired effect, and the beef was delivered 
very soon. 

A few days after this the major made his escape from 
the Indians and returned to Austin, where he was enabled 
to replenish his wardrobe. 

After concluding our "talk" with the Indians at Fort 
Belknap, we set forward to explore the country upon the 
Big Witchita and the head waters of the Brazos. This re- 
gion was then a " terra incognita," and has not been occu- 
pied by white men since. 

The following extracts from my journal, giving my im- 
pressions of the country as I passed over it, will probably 
convey a more accurate idea of tbis section than can be 
given in any other way. 

" On the 15th of July we left Fort Belknap, and traveled 
back on the Preston road for fourteen miles to the ' Cotton- 



LITTLE WITCHITA RIVER. 181 

wood Spring^^ upon the large prairie east of that post. Here 
we encamped, and at an early hour the following morning 
left the road, striking out into the prairie with a course a 
few degrees west of north toward the Little Witchita Eiver, 
passing over a rolling country covered with groves of mes- 
quit-trees, and intersected by several spring-branches (trib- 
utaries to 'Salt Creek'), flowing through valleys clothed 
with a dense coating of verdure, and teeming with a multi- 
tude of beautiful flowers of brilliant hues, the aroma from 
which filled the atmosphere with a most delicate and fra- 
grant perfume. 

"We made our camp at a fine large spring near the head 
of one of the branches of the west fork of the Trinity. 

" Our course the next day was northwest for six miles, 
crossing several small tributaries of the Trinity, all of which 
were wooded with mesquit, and occasionally a grove of 
post-oak was seen, with here and there a cottonwood or 
willow tree along the banks. 

" The water in all these branches is clear and palatable, 
and may be relied on throughout the season. 

"The geological features of this section are characterized 
by a predominance of dark sandstone, which in many places 
crops out or is laid bare by the action of water, and is cov- 
ered with detached fragments of volcanic scoria. 

" We are encamped to-night upon a confluent of the 
'Little Witchita,' which is here bordered by high, abrupt, 
rocky bluffs. The water stands in pools along the bed of 
the stream, and, although by no means good, it is drink- 
able. 

" Our course on the morning of the 18th was nearly west, 
gradually deflecting to the southward, for the purpose of 
avoiding the numerous branches of the Witchita, but we 
soon discovered they would take us too far out of our 
course, and turned north, crossing them at right angles. 

Q 



182 BEAUTIFUL SCENERY. 

" Our march this morning led us along a gradual slope 
of beautiful and picturesque country, interspersed with mes- 
quit glades and prairie lawns, for about eight miles, when 
we found ourselves, on reaching the crest of the ascent, 
upon the summit level of three streams, the 'Brazos,' 'Trin- 
ity,' and the ' Little Witchita.' Here a most beautiful pan- 
orama was opened out to our view. On our left, in the 
distance, could be seen the lofty cliffs bordering the Brazos, 
while in front of us, toward the sources of the Little Witch- 
ita, were numerous conical mounds, whose regular and sym- 
metrical outlines were exhibited with remarkable truth 
and distinctness on a background of transparent blue sky. 
On our right, several tributaries of the Little Witchita, em- 
bellished with light fringes of trees, flowed in graceful sin- 
uosities among green flowering meadows, through a basin 
of surpassing beauty and loveliness as far to the east as the 
eye could reach — all contributing enticing features to the 
romantic scenery, and producing a most pleasing effect upon 
the senses. 

" We continued the same course on the 19th, crossing 
several more of the Witchita tributaries, which caused us 
considerable detention in excavating banks and construct- 
ing bridges to cross our train. 

" The soil in the valleys of all these streams is a rich mel- 
low alluvion of a highly productive character, and, were it 
not for the scarcity of timber which begins to be apparent, 
this would undoubtedly prove a desirable farming locality. 

" The adjacent uplands are broken and rolling, but the 
soil possesses the elements of fertility. Upon the summit 
of the bluffs, at the head of the streams we are now passing, 
nothing can be seen toward the west but one unbroken ex- 
panse of prairie, spreading out beyond till it is lost in the 
dim distance. 

"In previous communications to the War Department, I 



SCARCITY OF TIMBER. 183 

have spoken of tlie great deficiency of building timber 
where I have traveled west of the ^ Cross Timbers.^ It may 
be added here that the same facts are observed in this sec- 
tion ; aiid although mesquit is found sufficient for fuel, yet 
there is a great scarcity of timber suitable for building pur- 
poses. There are, however, many quarries of stone, which 
might answer as a substitute. 

" If this country is ever densely populated by agricultur- 
ists, a new era in busbandry must be instituted. Nature 
seems to demand this. Instead of clearing up timbered 
lands for the plow, as in the Eastern States, it will be nec- 
essary to cultivate timber ; indeed, this has already been 
commenced in some Western prairies with successful re- 
sults. 

" We find an abundance of game throughout this section, 
and our hunters are enabled to keep the entire command 
supplied with fresh meat, so that we have had no occasion 
to make use of our beef cattle. 

" Our noon halt to-day was upon the summit of a hill, 
where we found a spring of cool, wholesome water, sur- 
rounded with a luxuriant crop of grass, which afforded our 
cattle the very best pasturage. 

"After noon we continued on for about eight miles over 
mesquit glades, when we arrived in a broad lowland val- 
ley, through whicb meanders a stream about twenty feet 
wide and two feet deep. This proved to be the main trunk 
of the Little Witchita. Its banks are about ten feet high, 
very abrupt, and skirted with elm and cottonwood. The 
water has a slightly brackish taste, but is palatable. 

" We remained in camp on the 20th, making preparations 
to leave the train and escort at this place, while Major 
Neighbors and myself proposed to make an excursion to- 
ward Red River. As we should, under any circumstances, 
be obliged to return this way, and could move much more 



184 SWARM OF BEES. 

rapidly witb pack mules than with our wagons, and as we 
did not anticipate meeting hostile Indians in this direction, 
we determined to take with us only our Delawares and three 
soldiers. Accordingly, on the following morning, we start- 
ed at an early hour in a course nearly due east down the val- 
ley of the creek upon which we had encamped, and, after 
descending fifteen miles, arrived at a point where another 
large tributary from the north united with the main branch. 
Directly at the confluence our Indians discovered a swarm 
of bees, that had taken up their abode in a dry limb of a gi- 
gantic old cottonwood-tree. We were anxious to get the 
honey, but a small hatchet was the only substitute for an 
axe in our possession ; and as chopping down the tree with 
this was out of the question, I was upon the point of leav- 
ing the industrious little insects in quiet possession of the 
fruits of their labors, when one of the Delawares resorted to 
the ingenious expedient of climbing a small tree standing 
near the cottonwood, and, on reaching the top, swung him- 
self within reach of the limb that contained the desired 
treasure. He was soon seated upon it, and, fastening to it 
a lariat which was thrown to him, we seized the other end, 
and with our united efforts broke off the part containing 
the honey, which afforded us all a bountiful feast. We then 
resumed our journey down the stream, and traveled thirteen 
miles before we encamped. 

" The character of the country along the valley is similar 
to that at our last camp. The soil is exceedingly rich, pro- 
ducing a heavy crop of grass, but the valley is subject to 
inundation, and no woodland is seen except directly along 
the banks of the stream. 

" The valley varies from half a mile to two miles in width, 
and is shut in by rolling uplands, entirely void of any tim- 
ber save mesquit. 

" There are timbered lands below this point, but they are 



PECAN FORK. 185 

mostly disposed of by the state, and are not now vacant; 
we did not, therefore, deem it advisable to proceed any far- 
ther in this direction, and on the morning of the following 
day turned north toward the Big Witchita Eiver, not ex- 
pecting to find any more tributaries to the Little Witchita, 
but, after traveling about five miles, we crossed another 
nearly as large as the main branch. This proved to be the 
most northerly confluent. It was twelve feet wide, the 
banks high, and lined with large pecan - trees, and, as' we 
have seen none of this timber upon the other branches, it 
occurred to us that it might appropriately be named the 
' Pecan Fork.' The water during this dry season stands in 
pools along the bed of the creek, but it is free from salts 
and palatable. 

" There is more timber along this branch than upon the 
others, but away from the stream no woodland is seen, and 
the soil here does not appear to be as prolific as upon the 
other branches. 

"Leaving the valley of the 'Pecan Fork,' we continued 
on in a north course over a very elevated prairie for seven 
miles, which brought us upon the crest of the ridge dividing 
the waters of the ' Little' from those of the ' Big Witchita,' 
from whence we descended by a smooth and regular grade 
for eight miles, and entered the valley of the latter stream, 
making our noon halt in a grove of hackberry-trees, near a 
pool of muddy water, 

" After dinner we crossed the valley, which was here 
about three miles wide, and found ourselves standing upon 
the bank of the Big Witchita, and, ascending about four 
miles, discovered a large spring of cold pure water bursting 
out from the bank near the river, and here made our biv- 
ouac for the night. 

"After a long and tiresome march, through an atmos- 
phere heated almost to suffocation by the intense rays of a 

Q* 



186 BIG WITCHITA. 

southern sun, it is difficult for one who has not experienced 
the sensation to conceive the exquisite pleasure imparted 
by a drink of cold water, particularly after being deprived 
of it for a long time. Such was the case with us upon this 
occasion, and every one now seemed perfectly happy and 
contented with himself and all the world. 

" The ' Big Witchita' Eiver at this point is 130 yards 
wide and three feet deep, with a current of about three 
miles per hour. The water is of a reddish cast, and rather 
turbid, but does not contain so much sedimentary matter as 
the water of the Little Witchita. It is so excessively bitter 
and nauseating to the taste that it can only be drunk in 
cases of the greatest extremity, and is similar to the water 
of Red River. 

" We are at this place about twenty-five miles above the 
mouth of the river (one of our Delawares having visited this 
locality before and estimated the distance), yet the river is 
wider here than at its confluence with Red River. 

"It never rises above its banks, which are from ten to 
twenty feet high, and although its general direction is near- 
ly east and west, it frequently flows toward all points of the 
compass within a short distance. Its course is very tortu- 
ous, running from one side to the other of a valley about 
four miles wide, bounded upon both sides by lofty bluffs. 
The soil in the valley is a dark red and exceedingly rich 
alluvion, covered with the very best grass ; unfortunately, 
however, the almost total absence of woodland, and the 
very great scarcity of good water, will render this section 
imsuited to the purposes of agriculture. 

"With the exception of a scanty skirt of cottonwood- 
trees along the course of the river (and even this, in many 
places, entirely disappears), there is no timber in this part 
of the valley. These considerations influenced us in reject- 
ing this as a locality suited to the wants of the Indians, ex- 
cept for purposes of hunting. 



BEAVER CREEK. 187 

"On the morning of the 23d we reluctantly took our de- 
parture from the cold spring, crossed the river, and ascend- 
ed a large tributary which entered from the northwest, 
about four miles above our camp of last night. This stream 
is about thirty yards wide and two feet deep, and flows with 
a lively current over a stratum of rock and gravel, between 
high banks bordered with cottonwood and hackberry trees. 
The water is bitter, but not so unpalatable as that in the 
principal branch. It is clear, and probably issues from the 
gypsum formation. 

"We observed several places where the beavers had left 
evidences of their industry, and in one spot they had quite 
recently cut down several large trees. This suggested to 
us the name we have applied to this pretty stream, ' Beaver 
Creek.' 

"We made our noon halt upon it, about twelve miles 
above its mouth, and partook of a sumptuous dinner of fish 
and soft-shell turtle, with which the stream abounds. 

"We have been exceedingly annoyed for a few days past 
with horse-flies. They are enormously large, and their sav- 
age attacks upon our animals cause them much acute suf- 
fering. A dark blue variety that I saw was nearly, if not 
quite as large as a small humming-bird, and they no sooner 
light upon an animal than the blood follows copiously. 

"We left the creek in the evening and traveled back to 
the Big Witchita, making our camp upon the north bank, 
near some pools of fresh water in a ravine. 

"In the morning we turned south, and directed our course 
for camp, where we arrived about twelve o'clock, found ev- 
ery thing quiet, and our animals in fine condition for our 
onward march. 

"An early departure was made on the following morn- 
ing, and we marched twelve miles along the south bank of 
the creek, making our camp at some pools of muddy water. 



188 COPPER AND IRON. 

As we ascend this stream, the timber along the banks di- 
minishes in size and quantity, and at this place the few trees 
that are seen do not average more than fifteen feet in height. 

"We are now near the sources of the principal branch of 
the Little Witchita, and as our course from hence will prob- 
ably lead us along the ridge dividing the Brazos from the 
Big Witchita, the waters of both of which are wholly unfit 
for use, we sent our Indians out, soon after we encamped, to 
search for good water in advance. They returned in the 
evening and reported a supply fifteen miles distant. 

"We resumed our march the next day, in a course a lit- 
tle south of west, along the high prairie ' divide,' mailing 
our night halt upon the summit of a very elevated bluff 
bordering the valley of the Big Witchita, and about 400 
yards distant from a small spring of water in a deep ravine. 

"In our course to-day we passed near a very prominent 
mound, standing upon the crest of the dividing ridge where 
it has the greatest elevation. From its anomalous conform- 
ation and peculiar outline, it presents an eminently conspic- 
uous landmark, and can be distinguished for many miles in 
all directions. 

"At the base of this mound we discovered some rich 
specimens of the blue carbonate of copper, and near this we 
also observed a vein of iron ore, fifteen feet in thickness, of 
exceedingly rich quality. 

"The dwarf red cedar first shows itself upon the bluffs 
of the Big Witchita, in the vicinity of our camp, and, with 
the exception of a few mesquit-trees, it is the only wood in 
this section. 

"On the morning of the 27th we again sent our Dela- 
wares in advance to search for water, as we were fearful, if 
we proceeded on with our ox-teams without taking this 
precaution, we might be obliged to encamp without that 
most necessary element. As the country in this direction 



WAR-PARTY. 189 

is becoming so exceedingly arid, we have resolved, after go- 
ing as far as we find water sufficient for all our animals, to 
leave the train with a majority of the escort, and push rap- 
idly on, with a few mounted men and pack animals, to the 
sources of the river. Our Indians returned in the evening 
with their horses much jaded, and reported that they could 
find no good water within a distance of twenty-five miles, 
save one small spring, only affording sufficient for a few 
men. 

"We therefore, on the following morning, found a suita- 
ble place to -encamp our train, about ten miles south of the 
Big Witchita, upon a small tributary of the Brazos, where 
the water was good, and the grass and fuel abundant. On 
visiting this spot, Major Neighbors at once recognized it as 
the place where, a long time since, he had remained for sev- 
eral weeks the guest of a former chief of the Southern Co- 
manches (Mo-ko-cho-pe). He had good reasons for retain- : 
ing a vivid recollection of the locality, as during his stay 
here his life was placed in imminent jeopardy. A war-par- 
ty of Northern Indians, on their return from a foray into 
Mexico, in passing along the borders of Texas had lost one 
of their number in a skirmish with some of the frontier- 
men, and, on their arrival at Mo-ko-cho-pe's camp, learning 
that my friend Neighbor^ was there, they at once determ- 
ined that he should be the victim to atone for the death of 
their comrade. They accordingly insisted upon his being 
given up to them, and enforced their arguments with threats 
of vengeance upon their hosts in the event of a refusal to 
comply with their demands. 

" Mo-ko-cho-pe replied to them that Major Neighbors 
was his friend and guest, and that if he did not protect 
him he should be guilty of a flagrant breach of hospitality ; 
that he would never give his sanction to such an outrage, 
and if they persisted in carrying out their designs, they 



190 LEAVE THE TRAIN. 

would first have to kill him, as he was resolved to protect 
him at all hazards. When the council was over, Mo-ko- 
cho-pe informed the major of the result, and advised him 
to remain constantly with him during the stay of the war- 
riors. He complied implicitly with this advice, and was 
not sorry when the war-party took its departure for home. 

"On the following morning, after giving directions to 
Lieutenant Pearce for moving the camp, Major Neighbors, 
the doctor, and myself, accompanied by five Indians and 
four soldiers, all well mounted, with pack mules loaded with 
the few supplies that were absolutely necessary for a twelve 
days' trip, including four five-gallon India-rubber water- 
sacks, set out with the firm resolve to see the head of the 
Big Witchita and Brazos Rivers before our return. 

"Although our numbers were small, and we were about 
to penetrate into the heart of a country infested by Indians 
of the most lawless propensities, yet the scarcity of water 
compelled us to adopt this course in order to proceed any 
farther in this direction. 

"Our course for the first ten miles was nearly west, along 
upon the crest of the lofty cliffs bordering the valley of the 
Witchita, when we turned to the north, and descended by a 
very tortuous course the precipitous sides of the bluffs, at 
tbe base of which we struck the ^rail of a party of Indians 
traveling to the north with five stolen horses. They had 
passed about ten days previous, and were moving slowly, all 
of which was evident from the fact that the whites never 
visit this section, and that five of the horses whose tracks 
we saw were shod. 

" Continuing on up the valley for fifteen miles, we had 
the good fortune to discover a small spring of cold pure 
water near the bank of the river, and here we bivouacked 
for the night. 

"We had taken the precaution in the morning to fill 



FIRE IN CAMP. 191 

our India-rubber sacks with water, but, after traveling a 
few hours exposed to the hot rays of the sun, the taste of 
the water became so rank and disagreeable that we could 
not drink it. I had, however, previous to leaving New 
York city, purchased for my own use a canteen made of 
the gutta-percha, and I was happy to find that this did not 
impart any disagreeable properties to water, even after re- 
maining for several days exposed to the sun's rays in an 
atmosphere heated to a temperature of 102° in the shade. 

" I take this occasion to remark that, in my opinion, the 
gutta-percha is far preferable as a material for water ves- 
sels to the India-rubber, and I have no hesitation in recom- 
mending for use in a southern climate the water-tanks and 
canteens made of this material. 

" The India-rubber, after it has been manufactured for a 
few months, besides communicating an unwholesome taste to 
water, becomes adhesive, and destroys the fabric upon which 
it is spread, whereas the gutta-percha, after five months' ex- 
posure in the climate of Texas, did not adhere in the least, 
and was unimpaired by use. 

" An accident occurred this evening which gave us no 
little alarm. While we were bathing in the river we heard 
the cry of fire, and, running back to camp, discovered the 
grass burning furiously, and, in spite of the vigorous ef- 
forts of the Indians, already in close proximity to our equi- 
page. We dashed in, and were fortunate enough to secure 
most of the articles before the flames reached them. 

"As we are now just entering the country where gypsum 
is the predominating rock, and as we had satisfied ourselves 
in our former travels that the chances for finding good wa- 
ter in a section where this mineral abounds are but few, we " 
pushed forward as rapidly as possible up the river, crossing 
several small streams, all of which we tasted, but found the 
character of the water similar to that in the main river. 



192 SOURCE OF BIG WITCHITA. 

After traveling twenty-seven miles we found the river re- 
duced to a width of only thirty yards. We continued on 
for ten miles farther, hoping every turn would disclose to 
us a fresh-water tributary, but we were disappointed, and 
encamped upon a small affluent of bitter water, which we 
were obliged to make use of. Several of the party have 
been attacked with diarrhoea and cramps in the bowels 
from drinking the water, and it causes all to feel more or 
less uncomfortable. 

" The portion of the valley over which we have been 
passing for the last forty miles is barren and sandy, and 
the only woodland is upon the bluffs, which are covered 
with dwarf cedar, with an occasional lonely Cottonwood or 
mesquit in the valley. Here and there may be seen a small 
patch of wild rye or gramma grass, but the principal herb- 
age in the valley is a coarse variety of grass unsuited to the 
palates of our animals. 

"On the following morning we left our salt-water biv- 
ouac at an early hour, and traveled rapidly on through 
the rough and intricate labyrinth of cedar bluffs which are 
closing in near the river bank, and rendering it necessary 
to pass over them in threading the narrow defile of the val- 
ley. A few miles brought us to a point where the river 
separated into several branches, all having their origin in 
the valley before us. Taking the principal one of these, 
we followed it up for several miles through the lofty bluffs 
bounding the valley, until we reached its source upon the 
plateau above. We found ourselves here about two hund- 
red and fifty feet above the bed of the stream, and, on turn- 
ing toward the valley from whence we had just emerged, a 
most beautiful and extensive picture greeted our eyes 
— the different confluents of the Witchita dividing as they 
neared their sources into numerous ramifications, all of 
which we were enabled from our lofty observatory to 



DESOLATE COUNTKY. 193 

trace in their tortuous meanderings to the very heads, and 
beyond these could be discerned the dim outline of a 
range of mountains, which stretched away to the south to- 
ward the Brazos. All united in forming a landscape pleas- 
ing to the eye ; but this is the only feature in the country 
which has left an agreeable impression upon my memory, 
and I bade adieu to its desolate and inhospitable borders 
without the least feeling of regret, for it is, in almost every 
respect, the most uninteresting and forbidding land I have 
ever visited. A barren and parsimonious soil, affording lit- 
tle but weeds and coarse unwholesome grass, with an inter- 
mixture of cacti of most uncomely and grotesque shapes, 
studded with a formidable armor of thorns which defies the 
approach of man or beast, added to the fact already alluded 
to of the scarcity of wood or good water, would seem to 
render it probable that this section was not designed by the 
Creator for occupation, and I question if the next century 
will see it populated by civilized man. Even the Indians 
shun this country, and there were no evidences of their 
camps along the valley, so that the bears (which are numer- 
ous here) are left in undisturbed possession. On leaving 
the Witchita, we traveled south toward the Brazos for six 
miles through mesquit groves, when we were rejoiced to 
find a miniature spring of fresh water dripping slowly out 
from under a rock near the crest of the ridge dividing the 
waters of the Witchita from those of the Brazos. After 
suffering intensely from thirst for two days, it may be im- 
agined that it made our hearts glad to taste the pure ele- 
ment once more. 

" As there was no reservoir to retain the water as it is- 
sued from the rocks, we went to work with our knives and 
tin cups, and in a few minutes each of us had excavated a 
small hole in the hard clay, which soon filled, and gave us 
a most refreshing draught. I am not prepared to say that 

E 



194: BRAZOS EIVER. 

it was equal to Croton water cooled with Eockland ice (be- 
ing of a deep brown color, and thick with sediment), yet I 
doubt if the good people of Gotham ever enjoyed their 
boasted and justly renowned beverage more than we did 
this. It was free from salts — that was sufficient for us — 
and we did ample justice to its merits, as numerous cupsful, 
which disappeared in rapid succession down our parched 
and feverish throats, abundantly evinced. 

"Our course from the spring was nearly parallel with the 
chain of mountains now distinctly visible, apparently about 
fifteen miles to our right. The direction of the chain seems 
to be nearly north and south, and extends off, as far as the 
eye can reach, toward the Brazos. Our route lay in the 
direction of one of the most prominent peaks of the chain, 
which was a very perfect cone, and apparently symmetrical 
upon all sides. Many of the other peaks, however, were 
truncated and irregular. Twelve miles' travel brought us 
to a branch of the Brazos, fifty feet wide and two feet deep, 
with a rapid current flowing over a bed of quicksand, and 
the water, as usual, bitter and unpalatable. 

" On the 1st of August we continued on toward the con- 
ical peak of the mountains for twelve miles, when we struck 
another branch of the Brazos, which was spread out over a 
broad bed of loose sand that absorbs most of the water. We 
followed up the north bank of this for a few miles, when 
we encountered still another tributary, of an entirely differ- 
ent appearance. It was shut in by high, abrupt clay banks, 
the water clear, deep, and covered with water grasses, very 
much like one of cmr northern spring-brooks, and I felt the 
utmost confidence that we should find the water fresh, but 
it proved to be, if possible, worse than that in the other 
branches. 

"It is thirty yards wide, from two to fifteen feet deep, 
and runs through a valley about two miles wide, with no 
trees upon its banks. 



MOUNTAINS, 195 

"It was literally alive with a multitude of large cat and 
buffalo fish, several of which we caught and cooked for our 
dinner, and can vouch for their good flavor. 

"After dinner we crossed the stream, which we called 
'Catfish Fork,' and in eight miles passed the Eound Mount- 
ain, making our camp in the mountains five miles beyond. 

" We find many spring-brooks issuing from the sides of 
the mountains, but, unfortunately, the formation here is gyp- 
sum, and all the streams are bitter. 

" On the following morning we made our way with dif- 
ficulty over the rugged mountainous region for several 
miles, when we reached the base of a high peak, which we 
determined to ascend. Accordingly, leaving our horses in 
charge of the men, we clambered up the precipitous sides 
of the eminence, and, on attaining the summit, found our- 
selves in a position overlooking the surrounding country 
for a great extent in all directions. 

"The principal trunk of the Brazos, which was about 
two miles to the south, could be traced in its course through 
the mountains to the west to its very source, and beyond 
this, after passing a plain of several miles in extent, could 
be seen another group of mountains much more elevated 
than those we are now traversing. They seem to be about 
forty miles distant, and present much the appearance of 
some of the most elevated spurs in the Witchita range, and 
fully as elevated. 

"The outline of the crest of this group is more deeply 
serrated and irregular, and the apices of the peaks more 
acute than those of the range we are now standing upon, 
having every appearance of upheaval and volcanic origin. 
If this conclusion is correct, they are probably composed of 
primitive rocks, and, from their geographical position and 
the direction of the group, both of which are nearly in the 
direct line connecting the two primitive ranges of the 



196 HEAD OF BRAZOS RIVER. 

Guadalupe and Witchita, it has occurred to me that this 
might be an intermediate outcrop of the same continuous 
chain. • I was surprised to find these lofty mountains at the 
sources of the Brazos, as I had before supposed the entire 
face of the country lying between the Pecos and Eed Elv- 
ers to be one continuous and unbroken plain, and that the 
Brazos, like the Red and Colorado Elvers, had its origin in 
the table lands of the Llano estacado. On facing to the 
east, and looking back over the country we had been trav- 
ersing, it seemed to be an almost perfectly smooth and lev- 
el surface, without a hill or valley, through which we could 
trace the several tributaries of the Brazos, as they flowed 
on in graceful curves, until they finally united in one com- 
mon receptacle, generally known as the main or 'Salt Fork.' 
This we followed with our eyes for many miles, when it 
gradually disappeared in the murky atmosphere in the dis- 
tance. 

"After feasting our eyes for some time upon this rare 
and magnificent scenery, we reluctantly turned our steps 
down the mountain, and rode forward to the river. 

"It was a broad, shallow stream, very similar to the other 
branches I have described, about forty yards wide, with a 
bed of light quicksand, and the water very saline to the 
taste. We were subsequently told by the Comanches that 
above this point, upon the plain between the two ranges of 
mountains, this stream passes over a field of salt (chloride 
of sodium), and that above that the water is palatable. 

"After traveling ten miles south from the Brazos we left 
the gypsum formation, and a,t length discovered a pool of 
fresh water. We were all much rejoiced at our good for- 
tune, and bivouacked for the night, determined to solace 
ourselves at this oasis for the privations of the past three 
days. 

" The water was free from salts, but heavily charged 



WAR- PARTY. 197 

"with sediment, and we were obliged to boil it for some 
time, and remove from the surface a very considerable per- 
centage of thick vegetable matter before it was fit for use. 

"For two days past we have seen an extensive fire on 
the prairie to the southwest, and supposed it was made by 
some of Pah-hah-eu-ka's band, who, our Delawares say, are 
ranging somewhere in this vicinity; but we subsequently 
learned from the Comanches that a war-party of one hund- 
red and fifty northern Comanches, Kioways, Arapahoes, 
Cheyennes, and Sioux passed here about this time on their 
way to join another party of one hundred of their people 
who had passed farther west, with the intention of rendez- 
vousing at the crossing of the Eio Grande, below the Pre- 
sidio del Norte, from whence they proposed to penetrate 
Mexico, indiscriminately putting to death men, women, and 
children, laying waste haciendas, driving off animals, and 
doing all the mischief in their power, 

"Thus they proposed to avenge the death of nearly a 
hundred of their comrades who last winter were entrapped 
by the Mexicans in a mountain, pass near Durango, and 
met with a just punishment for their many unprovoked 
atrocities. 

"They have been in the habit of visiting the different 
towns in northern Mexico for the ostensible purpose of 
traffic, and professing, at the- same time, the most devoted 
friendship, and often even making treaties of amity and 
peace, wherein they pledge themselves forever to regard 
their dupes as brothers, and to refrain in future from com- 
mitting depredations upon them, while, pending the nego- 
tiations, they are looking around to see where they can 
operate to the best advantage, when suddenly they disap- 
pear from the neighborhood, driving off animals, and kill- 
ing all who oppose their designs. 

"These outrages had been repeated so often that the 



H 



vf 



198 COMANCHES DEFEATED. 

Mexicans, upon the occasion we have alluded to, resolved 
to turn the tables upon them. They accordingly met the 
Indians with much apparent friendship, and invited them 
to hold a council, for the purpose of discussing the prelimi- 
naries of a treaty of peace. 

" The council was. convened in a valley of the mountains, 
the only approaches to which were through certain passes 
that could easily be defended by a few men. These they 
had taken the precaution to guard with a good number of 
soldiers, who, as soon as the council commenced its deliber- 
ations, fell upon the astonished Comanches, and put nearly 
all of them to death. The few that escaped wandered back 
to their homes in the north, where they told the sad tale of 
their disaster, and there was mourning for a long time. A 
feeling of indignation was aroused, with an insatiable thirst 
for revenge, which resulted in fitting out the large party I 
have spoken of "What would have been our fate had we 
encountered thera it is impossible to tell ; we were, however, 
perfectly contented to return home without seeing them. 

" The foregoing facts were detailed to us by several of 
the Comanches, and corroborated by the Delawares, and I 
have no doubt are strictly correct. 

" I have not learned the result of this expedition, but the 
presumption would be that a party of this magnitude, com- 
posed of the choice spirits of several different warlike tribes, 
all burning with a thirst for revenge, and animated by a 
spirit of rivalry and desire for distinction, which such an 
alliance would undoubtedly engender, would not return 
without making an effort to accomplish their designs, and 
I fear the Mexicans have suffered a terrible retribution. 

" I was very desirous of extending our explorations to 
the mountains beyond the head of the Brazos, but my asso- 
ciate. Major Neighbors, was unwilling to go farther in that 
direction, as he had already suffered muoh from drinking 



SOUTH FORK OF BRAZOS. 199 

the gypsum water ; as, moreover, one of the soldiers had 
become very much debilitated from the same cause, I re- 
luctantly abandoned the project, and contented myself with 
merely seeing from a distance the position of some of the 
sources of the river, without visiting the localities ' in pro- 
pria persona.' I am enabled, however, from the view I ob- 
tained upon the summit of the mountain, and from the 
courses I noted down, with compass in hand, at several dif- 
ferent points on our route, to trace the streams with con- 
siderable accuracy, and to approximate to the distances. 

" The next morning we directed our course toward the 
eastern extremity of a low mountain, nearly south from our 
last camp, which I recognized as the same I had seen in 
18-19, from the point where the Dona Ana road strikes a 
stream which has heretofore been known as the double 
mountain fork of the Brazos. My Delaware guide (Black 
Beaver) upon that occasion correctly informed me that this 
mountain was near the South Fork of the Brazos. 

" On reaching the South Fork we found it similar in 
character to the branch we passed yesterday, and about the 
same magnitude. Immediately after crossing it we ascend- 
ed the mountain, which was here composed of sandstone 
and gypsum, and covered with cedar bushes. 

" Upon the summit was an extensive plateau very much 
resembling the Llano estacado, and it is highly probable 
this may be a spur of that plain. 

" Toward the east from this elevation nothing could be 
seen but one continuous mesquit flat, dotted here and there 
with small patches of open prairie, while in the opposite 
direction, in a due west course, we discerned the elevated 
mountains beyond the head of the Brazos. Two peaks pre- 
sented themselves to the view from this position, the out- 
line of which was similar to the figure on the following page. 

"After leading our horses down the mountain, or pla- 



200 GAME ABUNDANT. 




teau, we turned our faces toward the train and traveled un- 
til ten o'clock at night, encamping at a pool of despicable 
water, with which we manufactured a cup of salt coffee, and 
with a venison steak, cooked by friend Neighbors in his 
best camp style (which, 'by-the-by,' would not bring dis- 
credit upon a professional cuisiniere), we managed to make 
a supper. 

" On the following morning we saddled up early and 
rode rapidly forward, hoping to find some good water for 
our breakfast. Eighteen miles brought us to some pools 
of water in the bed of a creek, where we breakfasted, and 
continued on down the bank of the stream for eight miles, 
when we encountered a terrific thunder - shower, which 
called into requisition all our gutta-percha and India-rub- 
ber habiliments, and those of the party who were not pro- 
vided with them were thoroughly drenched. 

" The country through which we are now passing is gen- 
tly undulating and covered with mesquit-trees. The soil is 
very rich, producing several varieties of gramma and mes- 
quit grasses, and begins to be watered with streams of fresh 
water. 

" The deer and turkeys are plenty in this section, and 
our hunters have no difficulty in supplying us with fresh 
meat. We now and then see an antelope; I have, how- 
ever, met with very few during the entire trip, and they 
seem to have almost disappeared since I was in this coun- 
try in 1849. 

"We encamped upon the creek, where we found a sup- 
ply of good running water, and the following morning 



A CHARMING VALLEY. 201 

passed another larger stream flowing from the south. "We 
here left the main creek and turned to the left, ascending a 
small spring-branch for twelve miles, finding -water along 
the entire distance. 

"This stream runs south 20° west, and takes its rise 
upon the south side of the ridge dividing the Clear Fork 
from the Salt Fork of the Brazos. It will always afford a 
suflSciency of good water for the largest trains in the dry- 
est seasons, and I have no doubt that the large creek en- 
tering from the south, before mentioned, would supply wa- 
ter for many miles farther in the direction of its course. 
Had we known these facts before leaving the main body 
of the escort, we would have had no difficulty in bringing 
the train much nearer the sources of the Brazos. 

" Passing the sources of the spring-creek, in the even- 
ing we traveled fifteen miles over mesquit uplands, and en- 
camped at a spring of good water. Our course the next 
morning was north 20° east for fifteen miles, which carried 
us to the borders of a valley inclosed with a barrier of 
lofty and rugged hills, which shut out the bleak northers 
that in the winter sweep across these prairies. 

" From the crest of these hills the valley below presented 
a carpet of verdant grasses, besprinkled with a profusion of 
flowers of the most vivid hues, through the midst of which 
meandered one of the most beautiful streams of pure water 
I have seen in this country, 

" We entered this charming valley, and on reaching the 
banks of the creek discovered that a large party of Kicka- 
poos, with their usual good taste, had occupied this locality 
for a hunting camp. The skeletons of their lodges (fifty- 
six in number) were still standing, and, judging from the 
piles of deer's hair which we observed in several places, 
and the bones scattered over the ground in all directions, 
they must have made a successful hunt while here. Our 



202 HOT WEATHER. 

Indians pronounced it four weeks since the camp had been 
occupied. 

"Passing the creek, we continued on for ten miles, when 
we again struck the main trunk of the Brazos, and, ascend- 
ing five miles, our eyes were once more gladdened by the 
sight of the encampment of the escort. 

" We joined our comrades, and, after the privations we 
had necessarily been subjected to during our excursion, en- 
joyed exceedingly the few luxuries our remaining stores 
afforded. 

" The weather during our absence had been very hot 
(the thermometer sometimes at 102° Fahrenheit in the 
shade), we had been obliged to ride during almost the en- 
tire day for the whole journey, yet the trip had not been 
without its attractions, and we trust the information we 
have obtained concerning this hitherto unknown region 
will be of sufficient importance to compensate us for our 
trouble. 

" Those of us who had suffered from the effects of the 
gypsum water were relieved as soon as we left that min- 
eral. Even the soldier who had been so very ill was al- 
most entirely restored on our arrival at the main camp. 

"In conversing with the Comanches afterward upon this 
subject, they said they always avoided this country as much 
as possible ; that whenever they had visited it they had in- 
variably been afflicted with diarrhoea, and several of their 
children had died from the effects of it. 

" On the morning of the 7th we struck our camp and 
crossed the river with our train, descending upon the south 
side to the old Kickapoo camp, where we remained on the 
day following, and examined the creek to its confluence 
with the Brazos. 

" The valley is about a mile wide, the soil productive 
and well watered, but, with the exception of mesquit and 



KETUMSEE. 203 

ft 

a few hackberry-trees, there is no timber, which we regard 
as an insuperable objection to selecting this as a reserve for 
the Indians. There are, however, many quarries of the 
very best building stone in the valley, which might serve 
a white population in lieu of timber, and this may yet be- 
come a superior farming locality. The deep prolific soil 
would unquestionably produce bountiful returns of any 
grain suited to this latitude, and would, for a long term of 
years, require no fertilizing auxiliaries. 

" Our course on the following day was southeast, over a 
mesquit country for twelve miles, making our camp on a 
small tributary of the Brazos, where we found an abund- 
ance of good living water. 

" Our course the next day was the same, over a very un- 
dulating and, in places, broken country, traversed by sev- 
eral small spring-branches of good water, between which 
we passed through groves of mesquit, but possessing little 
other interest until we reached a large creek running to- 
ward the Brazos, which winds through a broad valley in- 
closed with hills upon either side, and has more timber 
upon its borders than any we have seen above. The wa- 
ter is good, and the high banks have suf&cient capacity to 
contain it all at the highest stage. This valley would be a 
good position for an Indian reserve, but it is disposed of 
and not now vacant. 

" Quite a sensation was created in our camp during the 
afternoon by several strangers whom we saw in the dis- 
tance crossing the valley and coming toward us. On their 
arrival they proved to be a Comanche chief (Ketumsee), 
with two of his wives, who had come to pay us a visit. He 
stated that they had received a message from us some time 
since requesting the chiefs of the Southern Comanches to 
meet us, and that he had for several days endeavored to 
prevail upon some of the principal men to accompany him, 



204 CAPTAIN VAN BEUREN. 

but they all made objections, and he finally determined to 
set out alone in search of us. He had been traveling fast 
for six days, and had only struck our trail the day previ- 
ous, and he was apparently very glad to overtake us. We 
gave him a cordial welcome, and told him we would make 
him as comfortable as possible while he chose to remain 
our guest. He is a tall, fine-looking man, about fifty-five 
years of age, with an open, intelligent countenance, and as- 
sures us (which of course we are expected to believe) that 
he is the best friend to the whites in the Comanche nation. 
He acknowledges that there are others who profess friend- 
ship, but are not necessarily sincere. Taking his word for 
it, he is not one of that stamp. He stated that his own 
band, with but few exceptions, are disposed to avail them- 
selves of the present opportunity to change their wander- 
ing life, and learn to live like their more civilized brethren. 
He also says that they are as yet perfectly ignorant of ev- 
ery thing relating to agriculture, and it will be necessary 
for their Great Father to send them farmers to teach them 
before they can attempt it. 

"Ketumsee brought with him a letter from the com- 
manding ofiicer at Fort Chadbourn, in which he communi- 
cated to us the melancholy intelligence of the death of 
Captain Yan Beuren, and expressing his opinion that some 
members of Ketumsee's band were implicated in the out- 
rage. 

"In reply to our interrogatories upon this subject, he, 
with much apparent frankness and sincerity, gave us his 
version of the matter, which was, in substance, as follows : 

"He asserts that nearly all the depredations which are 
committed by the Indians in Texas can be traced directly 
to the Northern tribes. That all the depredating parties 
are organized among these Indians, but that occasionally 
one of them passes his camp, when they talk to his young 



EARLY BREAKFAST. 205 

men, and endeavor to persuade them to join the expedi- 
tion. That he has always given them good advice, en- 
treating them to refrain from making war upon the whites, 
and showing them that they have nothing to gain by so 
doing. They are perfectly aware that we are much more 
powerful than themselves, and that they will be held to a 
strict account for any atrocities they may commit. He 
says his counsels are generally listened to and adopted by 
his warriors, but that now and then an impetuous young 
man, more anxious than others for distinction, will not take 
his advice or obey his commands, and goes off with a war- 
party. Such, he says, might have been the case in the re- 
cent affair alluded to, and one of his band may have been 
engaged therein, but he did not think that he should be 
held responsible for such acts, after he had done all in his 
power to prevent them. He states farther, that those of his 
people who make war upon the whites must take the con- 
sequences to themselves, as they will receive no counte- 
nance or protection from him. Whether he is sincere or 
not in what he has stated we have no means of determin- 
ing, but his manner certainly impressed us with confidence 
in his good faith. 

"On the morning of the 11th we left our camp before 
daylight, and traveled ten miles in the same course as the 
day previous, which carried us into the valley of a fine 
stream of running water, with several varieties of timber 
upon its borders. The soil in the valley is arable in the 
highest degree, and the natural resources of the locality ful- 
fill all the conditions necessary for making good farms. 
This section is appropriated, and not available for the In- 
dians. 

"On the following morning we breakfasted at the very 
unfashionable hour of one o'clock, and were en route an 
hour afterward in a southwest course toward the high ridge 



206 TOO FAR EAST. 

dividing the main Brazos from the Clear Fork, and at ten 
o'clock crossed the road leading to Dona Ana, encamping 
near the Fort Belknap and Phantom Hill road, at a point 
ten miles east of the crossing of the Clear Fork. 

"It was our intention to have intersected this road twen- 
ty miles farther west, but our guide was in this instance at 
fault, and although I repeatedly expressed my opinion that 
our course was leading us too far east, the Delawares be- 
lieved they were right, and we suffered them to proceed. 

"As they have generally been very correct in their judg- 
ment regarding courses and localities, this error must be re- 
garded as an exception to the general rule. They, like all 
their brethren with whom I have been associated, are more 
perfect in the art of woodcraft than any people I have ever 
known. They are full of expedients for all emergencies, 
and their great experience upon the prairies renders their 
services highly valuable. 

" Soon after crossing the California road, which I had 
traveled in 1849, we entered a section covered with large 
mesquit-trees, beneath which were innumerable large sun- 
flowers, spreading over the entire country as far as we could 
see, and giving it a brilliant yellow hue. 

"These continued as far as the crossing of the Clear Fork 
of the Brazos, upon the Phantom Hill road, which point 
we reached the next day about ten o'clock A.M. 

"A change takes place in the physiognomy of the coun- 
try in passing from the main or Salt Fork to the beautiful 
Clear Fork of the Brazos, which seems almost magical. 

"We here find, within the small space of a day's travel, 
all that is rude, barren, and uninteresting in nature, in close 
proximity to that which is most pleasing and beautiful in 
pastoral scenery. 

"Nature here evinces, in this sudden transition, a caprice 
that I have rarely observed in contiguous localities. In- 



A CONTKAST. 207 

deed, I doubt if two streams can be found in widely sepa- 
rated districts that present a greater contrast. ; 

"The waters of the former stream are red, heavily loaded 
with earthy matter, exceedingly bitter to the taste, and flow 
sluggishly over a bed of quicksand, through a valley almost 
destitute of timber, while the waters of the latter flow rap- 
idly over a bed of limestone and gravel of dazzling white- 
ness, which exhibits their purity and limpidity in such a 
manner that the smallest objects are distinctly visible at the 
depth of fifteen feet, while the banks are clothed with a va- 
riety of trees of gigantic dimensions, covered in many places 
with parasitical dependences, which overshadow the stream, 
and are reflected from the surface of the pure water in the 
same colors that they present when directly seen. 

" The valley teems with a rich and verdant herbage, 
which exhibits the amazing fecundity of the soil, and every 
thing here reminds us of all that is most picturesque and 
charming in a highly cultivated country. 

"The stream is here twenty-five yards wide, inclosed upon 
each side by high, precipitous banks, which contain the wa- 
ter at the highest stages, and are lined with pecan, hackber- 
ry, black walnut, and other trees, which in many places 
along the lowlands spread out over spaces of considerable 
extent, constituting a goodly amount of timber suitable for 
building purposes or fuel. 

"About six miles below the crossing the oak-timbered 
lands commence, and continue along the course of the 
stream upon both banks to its confluence with the main 
Brazos. 

"The greater portion of the land in this direction is, 
however, taken up by individuals. 

" The valley of the Clear Fork is, in this vicinity, from 
one quarter of a mile to two miles in width, and is every 
where bountifully supplied with cool fresh water spring- 



208 AGRICULTURE. 

brooks. Limestone, wbicli is here the predominating rock, 
is found in the greatest profusion, and is better adapted for 
building purposes than any I have ever seen before. It 
has been shaped out by natural causes into cubes and other 
symmetrical figures of convenient dimensions, with smooth 
surfaces and perfect angles in such a manner as to be al- 
ready dressed for the hands of the mason. 

" We were much rejoiced on arriving here to find evi- 
dences of civilization in this far Western Indian country. 

" A former agent of the Comanches (Colonel J. Stem) 
some years since purchased a tract of land here, upon which 
he determined to open a farm. 

" The experiment was made by turning over the sod with 
a prairie plow, and planting the seed (corn and oats) upon 
it. No other labor was expended in the way of hoeing or 
plowing, but it grew up most luxuriantly, and produced a 
very bountiful yield of grain. 

" It has now been j^lanted for three successive seasons, 
and in every instance with good results ; while during the 
same period, in some of the populated sections farther east, 
the crops have failed. During the past summer, the uni- 
versal drought throughout the Southwestern States caused 
an almost entire failure in the corn crop, but here they did 
not suffer in the least. 

" Thus far the cultivation of this farm has realized hand- 
some profits to its proprietor, and he finds a ready market 
for his produce at Fort Belknap, at good prices. 

" These facts may seem foreign to the subject matter of 
a report of this character, but I have brought them to notice 
as an evidence of the fertility of the soil, and an argument 
in support of the adaptation of this locality to the wants of 
the Indians. 

" There are numerous remains of old Comanche camps 
throughout the valley, showing that this has for many years 



QUA-QUA-HO-NO — PAINT CREEK. 209 

been a favorite resort for them. All the best varieties of 
the gramma and mesquit grasses are found here, and ani- 
mals require no other forage during the winter months ; in- 
deed, we are told that they thrive and keep in better condi- 
tion daring the winter than in the summer. 

" There are not so many flies here as in the more heavily 
timbered districts to the east, from which cattle suffer se- 
verely, and I verily believe there is no place in the uni- 
verse better suited to ' stock raising' than this. 

" We made our encampment on the bank of the Clear 
Fork, at a large spring of cold, delicious water, which gush- 
ed forth from the bank about half a mile below Stem's 
ranch. As there is a vacant tract of land of sufficient extent 
for one reservation lying upon the river above here, we de- 
termined to make a halt for the purpose of examining it, and 
in the mean time send Ketumsee for the other chiefs of the 
Southern Comanches, who were about seventy miles off. 

" On the following morning Major Neighbors and my- 
self ascended the river about eight miles to the confluence 
of another tributary, called by the Comanches Qua-qua-ho- 
no, and by the whites Paint Creek. We ascended this 
branch to the crossing of the California road, where we 
bivouacked for the night, and I made my bed under the 
same tree where I pitched my tent in 1849. It was here 
that I met Senaco's band of Comanches upon that occasion. 

" We turned our steps toward camp at an early hour on 
the next day, and passed down upon the north side of the 
river, thus making a careful examination of the tract of 
country noted as vacant upon the map furnished us from 
the General Land Ofi&ce, which we find contains a good 
share of rich valley land along the borders of the stream, 
well suited to the culture of grain or plants. The uplands 
adjoining are- undulating, with rich grassy slopes covered 
with mesquit-trees, well adapted for pasturage. 

S* 



210 SEN AGO. 

"As we were returning to camp we met two Indians from 
Senaco's camp, with a message from him desiring us to put 
no reliance in the statements of Ketumsee, as he did not au- 
thorize him to talk for the nation. 

"Although Senaco is acknowledged by all to be the rul- 
ing spirit of the Southern Comanches, and claims and holds 
that position in their united deliberations, yet his band and 
that of Ketumsee are otherwise separate and independent. 
Ketumsee is an ambitious and astute leader, pursuing a dis- 
creet and complaisant policy in the government of his fol- 
lowers calculated to enhance his popularity, and he has al- 
ready alienated several of Senaco's band, who have trans- 
ferred their allegiance to him. This has engendered a feel- 
ing of ill will and jealousy between them that causes each 
to be suspicious of the motives of the other, and it was 
probably this that induced him to think he might be mis- 
represented to us. 

" Senaco, with several sub-chiefs and a chief of the Mid- 
dle Comanches, having arrived on the 20th, we assembled 
them in council in the evening, for the purpose of ascer- 
taining their views upon the subject of the proposed settle- 
ment, 

" As I had just come from "Washington, the Indians were 
anxious I should tell them what their Great Father's wish- 
es were. I accordingly stated to them that I had been sent 
into their country to select and survey a tract of land suit- 
able for cultivating corn and raising cattle; that their agent 
had been appointed to assist me in this duty ; that their 
Great Father at Washington was sorry to see his Eed chil- 
dren upon the prairies suffering for food, and desired to 
place them in a situation where they would be more com- 
fortable. To effect this, he proposed to locate them upon 
the lands we were about to select, and have them taught to 
cultivate it. 



INDIAN FARMERS. 211 

" In illustrating the benefits that would accrue to them, 
I remarked that the buffaloes had within a few years entire- 
ly left their hunting-grounds; the deer and other game 
were rapidly disappearing from the Plains, and in a few 
years they and their children would be compelled to resort 
to some other life than the chase for a subsistence. 

" They would not be permitted to depredate upon their 
neighbors, and there would be no alternative left them but 
that of tilling the soil, 

" That I had for twenty years lived near and become ac- 
quainted with several other tribes of Indians who once lived 
as they do, upon the uncertain results of the chase, but by 
the advice of the whites they were induced to give up their 
wandering habits, established permanent habitations, and 
learned to plant corn and raise cattle, and were now living 
like the whites, having an abundance to eat and wear dur- 
ing the entire year ; and I believed it was only necessary 
for them to make the experiment to satisfy themselves that 
they and their children would be much benefited. 

"I told them, farther, that I presumed the President would 
send them farmers to instruct them, and supply them with 
agricultural implements and provisions to subsist them un- 
til they could raise their first crop. That their agent and 
the military authorities stationed near them would see that 
they were not molested by the whites, and that their rights 
were respected by their neighboring brethren. But that, 
in return for these favors, they would be expected to obey 
all the orders of our government, and remain firm friends 
to the whites. 

"In conclusion, I desired them to deliberate well upon 
what I had said, and when they had done so, we should be 
glad to hear what they had decided upon. 

• " After conferring together for some time in a low tone 
of voice, and passing around the pipe, Senaco rose, and, in 
a very dignified manner, said : 



212 SENACO'S SPEECH. 

" ' What I am about to say is the sentiment of all my 
people ; what Senaco says the Comanche nation say. We 
have heard the talk which our Great Father has sent us 
by our friend Captain Marcy, and our reply to it will be 
straightforward and the truth. 

" ' We very well remember what our former chief " Mo- 
ko-cho-pe" told us before he died, and we endeavor to car- 
ry out his wishes after he is gone from us. He advised us 
to take the counsels of the whites and be governed by 
them, and they would benefit us. This has sunk deep into 
our hearts, and we shall not soon forget it. 

" ' We are very glad to hear the talk which has been 
sent us at this time ; it makes our hearts warm, and we feel 
happy that our Great Father remembers his poor Red chil- 
dren in the prairies. 

"'We accept the talk, and shall endeavor to accede to 
all that is required of us. 

" ' I am pleased to see Captain Marcy once more. I well 
remember meeting him five years since near this very 
place, and I was glad when I was told he was to meet us 
here.' 

" After closing his remarks, we asked them many ques- 
tions, the answers to which satisfied us that a majority of 
them were disposed to make a trial of the experiment in 
farming; yet, as it is altogether a new thing to them (neither 
they nor their forefathers from time immemorial having 
ever planted a seed), some of them are evidently fearful 
they will not be benefited by it, and they asked us why 
the government was so anxious to have them abandon their 
old mode of life at this particular time. 

"They desired us to locate their land upon the Clear 
Fork of the Brazos, where they have, been in the habit of 
spending the winter, and have very serious objections to 
settling farther north, as they say they entertain the same 



PRESENTS. 213 

fears of the Northern Indians as their brethren upon the 
Brazos. 

"After finishing the business of the council, Major Neigh- 
bors distributed among them the presents that had been 
purchased for them, which, with some rations I issued them, 
made them seemingly very happy, and their camp was a 
scene of feasting during the remainder of their stay with 
us. They, like other Indians, are extravagantly fond of 
corn, and the chief said he hoped we would give them a 
good allowance of this, as otherwise he would not be able 
to prevent the women from stealing it from the plantation 
in our vicinity. 

" On the following morning. Major Neighbors and my- 
self, leaving the command upon the Clear Fork, went in to 
Fort Belknap, for the purpose of making a more minute 
examination of the country below that post than we had 
been enabled to do previous to our departure upon our ex- 
pedition up the Brazos, 

"We found upon our map a vacant tract of country ly- 
ing below the junction of the Clear Fork, and as this was 
the only available locality suited to the wishes of the Bra- 
zos Indians, we directed our attention exclusively to it. It 
is situated on both sides of the river, which divides it into 
two equal parts of four leagues each, and is in every par- 
ticular well adapted to the uses of two separate tribes. 

" There is a large body of valley land of the most pre- 
eminent fertility upon either side of the stream, extending 
throughout the entire length of the tract. This, upon both 
sides, is bordered by mesquit uplands, covered with luxu- 
riant gramma grasses, affording the best pasturage, and ad- 
joining.this a range of mountains, covered with oak timber 
extends upon each side to the north and south lines, bound- 
ing the reservations. 

" Each tract has a river front of upward of twenty-six 



214 SUMMARY. , 

miles, affording an abundance of water at all seasons for 
their animals. Then there are several streams of fresh wa- 
ter, fed from springs, which will always supply them with 
water for their own use.- The pure water of the Clear Fork 
(the largest confluent in this section) modifies the salts in the 
main stream to such a degree that animals drink it readily 
and thrive upon it. 

" Summary. 

"A brief and comprehensive glance at the general phys- 
ical geography of this section of country, a portion of which 
has been noticed in detail in the foregoing narrative, will 
disclose the considerations which influenced us in making 
the selections for the Indian reservations. 

"Before entering upon the discharge of the duties as- 
signed us in our letters of instructions from the Depart- 
ments of War and Interior, we procured from the General 
Land Ofl&ce of Texas a map of that portion of the state to 
which our attention was directed, upon which all the va- 
cant domain was indicated. A perusal of the foregoing 
journal will show that a great share of the most desirable 
lands, bordering the streams in the country over which we 
passed, has been disposed of by the state, and was not then 
available for Indian purposes. We, however, found many 
spots where all the natural requisites were at hand for mak- 
ing good farms, but, in almost every instance, these vacant 
tracts were not of sufficient magnitude to constitute reserva- 
tions of the dimensions required. 

"From the examination I had before made of that por- 
tion of Northern Texas lying upon the waters of Red, 
Witchita, and the Canadian Rivers, west of the 100th me- 
ridian of latitude, I was of the opinion that a much better 
locality could be found near the Big WitcHita or the Bra- 
zos Rivers. 



GENERAL FEATURES. 215 

"The different confluents of Little Witcbita are bordered 
by lands which are very highly productive to their very 
sources ; and in that portion of the valley near Eed River, 
woodland is sufficiently plenty for the purposes of the 
farmer, but this is appropriated, and in that section of the 
valley which is vacant there is a deficiency of timber. As 
I have observed before, however, the fine building-stone 
found throughout the valley may answer the purposes of a 
white population, and this may yet offer sufficient induce- 
ments to attract settlers. 

"The country embraced within the valley of the Big 
Witchita presents in its physical aspect two remarkable di- 
visions, distinct belts as it were, extending along the course 
of the stream, with entirely different topographical features. 
Commencing at Eed River, and ascending the stream for 
seventy-five miles, the valley, which is from one to five 
miles wide, is smooth and regular, the soil highly fertile, 
and covered with a luxuriant vegetation. And upon the 
borders of this savanna a chain of bluffs terminates the ele- 
vated prairie lands adjoining, from whence issue many 
springs of pure, wholesome water ; but, with the exception 
of a few cottonwood-trees upon the immediate borders of 
the river, there is no woodland throughout this section. 

" The upper division of the river finds its way through a 
valley more contracted than that spoken of, and the soil is 
much more sterile, being a mixture of clay and sand unsuit- 
ed to the rapid development of vegetation. The bluffs rise 
from the base to a much greater height, and approach near- 
er the river bank, and are covered with a variety of stunted 
red cedar bushes, indicating a great increase in the general 
elevation of the country. The surrounding plains assume 
a lonely, melancholy, and arid aspect, producing in the mind 
a sadness which contrasts strikingly with the feeling inspired 
upon the most unimpressible temperament by the beauty of 



216- THE MOUNTAINS. 

a landscape embellished with verdant woodlands and smil- 
ing prairies, garnished with multitudes of gorgeous flowers. 

" Above the sources of the Big Witchita a range of 
mountains stretch away to the south for about forty miles, 
embracing all the principal upper confluents of the Brazos. 
These mountains are composed principally of gypsum and 
sandstone, and stand out in bold relief upon the vast prairie 
lands surrounding. They are clothed with a scanty growth 
of dwarf cedar and cacti toward the bases, while the sum- 
mits are denuded of all vegetation, which, with the rugged 
disposition of the strata, adds to the general imposing effect 
upon the beholder, and strangely contrasts with the smiling 
aspect of the prairies that sweep off to the east and south 
from below. 

"The gypsum rock, which imparts to all the water in 
this section those peculiar and unpalatable properties that 
have been mentioned, will render this country uninhabita- 
ble by man for any great length of time. 

" On leaving these dreary solitudes and turning to the 
east down the right bank of the Brazos, we soon enter a 
much more inviting section of country. We here encount- 
er several tributaries of the Clear Fork, aflfol-ding pure 
water, and the geological formation rapidly changes. The 
gypsum rock is only seen in detached masses, and its place 
is soon entirely occupied by lime and sandstone. 

"Although in our expedition to the sources of the Big 
Witchita and the Brazos we were unsuccessful in discover- 
ing a suitable location for the Indians, yet it is thought that 
the results of our labors will not be entirely devoid of util- 
ity or interest. The geographical knowledge we have ob- 
tained of this hitherto unexplored region enables me to 
complete a sketch of the only tributaries of the Brazos that 
were before unknown. It will be observed that upon the 
map accompanying my report, a large stream (the Double 



AN IMAGINARY RIVER. 217 

Mountain Fork of the Brazos), which has before been noted 
upon all the maps of this section, is wanting. This imag- 
inary river has heretofore been supposed to enter the main 
Brazos about thirty miles above Fort Belknap, and is even 
found delineated upon the surveyor's maps that were sent us 
from the General Land Ofiice of Texas, with surveys noted 
upon it. On our return from the head waters of the Bra- 
zos we traveled down the south bank of the stream until 
we arrived within forty miles of Fort Belknap, when we 
struck south for the Clear Fork, expecting to cross the 
Double Mountain Fork before we reached it, but, to our 
surprise, the Clear Fork was the first stream of magnitude 
we encountered, so that the Double Mountain Fork has no 
existence. 

" On my return from New Mexico in 1849, 1 struck quite 
a large stream running to the east about thirty-five miles 
west of the crossing of Paint Creek. I was then given to 
understand by my Delaware guide that this was the 'Double 
Mountain Fork of the Brazos,' but our observations now 
prove it to have been Paint Creek. 

" The geological information we have secured is also re- 
garded as important. 

" I had upon my former expeditions traced a great belt 
of gypsum from the Canadian River across the Plains in a 
southwesterly course for several hundred miles toward the 
Rio Grande. 

" We have traced the continuation of this formation 
where it intersects the valley of the Big Witchita, and 
thence across the different branches of the Brazos. Near 
the head of the Brazos it presents a solid stratum of the 
enormous thickness of five hundred feet. It occurs in va- 
rious shades of purity, from the common plaster of Paris 
to pure selenite, quite similar in appearance to that upon 

the Red and Canadian Rivers. 

T 



218 .THE MESQUIT-TREE. 

"In the journeys I had made before upon the Plains I 
had observed the mesquit-tree extending over vast tracts 
of country, and I had noticed some of its useful properties, 
such as its durability and its adaptation for fuel, but I was 
never so fully impressed with its many valuable qualities 
as during the past summer. 

" It covered a great portion of the country over which 
we ti^aveled, and our attention was especially attracted to 
an exudation of gum from its trunk and branches, which, 
upon tasting, we pronounced to be closely allied to the gum- 
arabic of commerce. 

"This tree was first brought to the notice of the public by 
Dr. Edwin James, Assistant Surgeon United States Army, 
who met with it in his trip to the Eocky Mountains with 
Colonel Long, forty -seven years ago. It is a variety of the 
acacia, and possesses many properties in common with other 
species of that group of plants. 

"What the exact geographical range of the tree is we 
are as yet (with a great portion of our territory unexplored) 
unable to define ; my own observations, however, warrant 
me in asserting confidently that it is only indigenous to the 
great plains of the West and South, extending far beyond 
the limits of most other varieties of trees, and it would 
seem from its locality to have been planted by an all-wise 
Providence with special reference to the wants of the occu- 
pants of a section of country suitable to the growth of no 
other tree. 

"Between the twenty -sixth and thirty-sixth parallels of 
north latitude, within the ninety-seventh and one hundred 
and third meridians of longitude, it is found abundantl}^, 
often constituting vast tracts of woodland, and is, indeed, 
almost the only silva of the section. It is also found in 
very many places between the Kocky Mountain range and 
the Pacific Ocean, but appears to flourish better and to 



VALUE OF MESQUIT. 219 

attain greater dimensions in the vicinity of the Gila Eiver 
than in any other loca/ity I have heard of west of the Rio 
del Norte. 

" In going north from the parallel of thirty-three degrees 
(in the direction I have traveled) the trees gradually be- 
come smaller and smaller, until at last they are mere bushes; 
and, finally, on arriving near the latitude of thirty-sis de- 
grees they entirely disappear. 

" The vast geographical range of the mesquit-tree, and 
its many useful properties, some of which will be enumer- 
ated in the sequel, renders it available, and I have no doubt 
it is destined to become highly important to the future oc- 
cupants of a large section of our new territory. 

" It is a tree of short, scrubby growth, the stock averag- 
ing from four to fifteen inches in diameter, and seldom at- 
taining a height, including its top, of more than twenty feet. 
The limbs are short, crooked, and thickly studded with long, 
sharp thorns ; the leaves pinnated, and the leaflets are long 
and elliptical ; the bark is a dark gray, resembling that of 
the peach-tree ; the wood coarse-grained, very brittle ; and 
the heart, which constitutes nearly the entire tree, somewhat 
like the darker varieties of mahogany. 

" It burns readily, even when gr^n, with a bright, cheer- 
ful flame, leaving a residue of coals almost as perfect in form 
as the original wood, making a very hot fire, and is, indeed, 
the best fuel I have ever seen, hickory not excepted. 

" It possesses durability in an eminent degree, and is, in 
consequence, much used for building in Southern Texas 
and Mexico. As an evidence of its lasting qualities, I have 
seen pieces of the wood, in a perfect state of preservation, 
imbedded in the stones of an old ri>in upon the Nueces 
River, in Texas, which must have' been exposed to the 
weather for very many years, as the stones had become 
partially disintegrated, and were crumbling away with age, 
while the wood remained sound. 



220 ST; JOHN'S BREAD. 

'•' The mesquit is often found upon the most elevated and 
arid prairies, far from water-courses, but will, I believe, only 
grow upon soil of the first quality ; and so well is this fact 
established, that the mesquit groves, or ' flats,' as they are 
called, are sought after in Western Texas as the most de- 
sirable spots for cultivation, and they have thus far proved 
exceedingly productive. The trees stand at wide intervals, 
upon ground coYered with a dense carpet of verdure, and a 
stranger, on approaching one of the groves, can not resist 
the impression that he has a peach orchard before him, so 
striking is the resemblance. The blossoms put forth in 
June, and a fruit appears in the form of a long, slender 
bean, from which the Mexicans make a cooling and pleasant 
beverage. These beans ripen in September, when they fall 
to the ground, and afford sustenance to wild horses, deer, 
antelope, and turkeys. 

"The pod is highly saccharine and nutritious, and is 
used for food by the natives of the Plains, as well as those 
west of the Kocky Mountains. The Indians upon the Col- 
orado and Gila Eivers pulverize and press them into cakes, 
which are said to be quite palatable. 

" They make most excellent forage for horses and mules, 
and there are many instances where they have sustained 
those of the California emigrants upon some of those long 
'journadas,'or sandy and barren deserts, toward the Pacific. 

"A tree very similar to the mesquit, 'called the carob- 
tree,' is found in the south of Spain. It affords a bean like 
the mesquit, which is imported under the name of 'Algaro- 
ba bean,' It is used for food in Spain, and is there called 
'St. John's Bread.' It was this bean that often constituted 
the only forage of the English cavalry horses during the 
war of 1811 and 1812. 

" The species of acacia from which the gum-arabic of 
commerce is obtained (the acacia vera) is a hard, withered- 



MESQUIT GUM. 221 

looking tree, with a crooked stem and gray bark, very like, 
in external appearance, the raesquit. 

"The gum of the mesquit exudes from the trunk and 
branches wherever there is an abrasion in the bark. It is 
also produced when a cut is made with a sharp instrument, 
in the same manner as the sap is drawn from the sugar ma- 
ple. It commences exuding in July, and continues until 
the last of September. It is, at first, in a translucent and 
nearly fluid state, but soon hardens by exposure to the sun 
and air •, and if there is no rain (and there seldom is any at 
this season), it forms in globules upon the bark, and can be 
collected in large quantities ; and I have no doubt it will 
eventually become an important article of commerce, an- 
swering all the purposes of the gum-arabic of the shops. 

" Specimens of the gum collected by us were submitted 
to Dr. John Torrey, who kindly returned to me the follow- 
ing remarks upon the subject, which, coming from so dis- 
tinguished a source, will be read with interest : 

" ' The collection of plants made by Dr. James in his expe- 
dition to the Eocky Mountains was submitted to me for ex- 
amination, an account of which, with descriptions of all the 
new species that it contained, I published in the "Annals of 
the New York Lyceum of Natural History" in 1827 (vol. 
ii., p. 161-254). The mesquit was found to be a new spe- 
cies of the genus Prosopis of Linngeus, to which I gave the 
name of P. glandulosa, and a figure of the plant accompa- 
nied the description. The eminent botanist, Mr. Bentham, 
who has made a special study of the Leguminosa, considers 
the section Algaroba of Prosopis as a distinct genus. His 
views were adopted in the " Flora of North America" by 
Dr. Gray and myself, so that the plant is there described as 
"Algaroba glandulosa" (Torr. and Gray, H. N. Amer., i., p. 
399). Twelve or more other species are natives of Mexico 
and the western coast of South America. All of them bear 
a long, compressed pod, which is filled with a sweet, nutri- 



222 DR. torrey's opinion. 

tious pulp. These pods were used for food by Major Long's 
party. They constitute, also, a most valuable fodder for 
animals. 

" ' For several years I have known that a gum, allied to 
the gum-arabic, exuded from the trees, especially where 
they were wounded. Specimens of the gum were long ago 
brought to me by different travelers from New Mexico and 
Western Texas, but I never examined the substance par- 
ticularly till I received a supply of it from you a few days 
ago. At your request I submitted it to examination, and 
compared it with the well-known gum-arabic. 

" ' The mesquit or algaroba gum is intermediate in ap- 
pearance between the darker kinds of gum-arabic and cher- 
ry-tree gum. Portions of it, however, are almost colorless, 
and have the roughish surface and cracked structure that 
belong to the better kinds of gum-arabic. The portion that 
you sent me was probably not gathered with particular care, 
for some of it has particles of bark attached to the lumps, 
or disseminated through them. 

" 'On testing the solubility of the gum in cold water, it 
dissolved as readily as gum-arabic, and the mucilage, though 
of a brownish tint, was destitute of bitterness or other un- 
pleasant flavor, and it is strongly adhesive. When the so- 
lution is poured into a shallow vessel, and left to spontane- 
ous evaporation, it leaves the gum in transparent brilliant 
plates, having all the qualities of the original gum.' 'If the 
gum can not be gathered without a small portion of dirt 
being entangled in it, the best plan would be to dissolve it 
in water, and let the dirt subside, or separate it by strain- 
ing. The mucilage might then be dried, the thin plates of 
gum bleached in the sun, and afterward piilverized. 

" ' You are perhaps aware that the trees affording the 
mesquit gum and gum-arabic belong to the same natural 
group of plants, so it is not remarkable that they so strong- 
ly resemble each other.' " 



THE COMANCHE RESERVATION. 223 

As the history of the experiment of civilizing the Coman- 
ches may possess some interest to many of my readers, I re- 
mark, in concluding my account of these reservations, that 
Ketumsee and his followers settled upon the lands designed 
for them, and under the able superintendence of their agent, 
Major Neighbors, and the instruction of farmers provided 
by the United States government, they made commendable 
progress in the rudiments of agriculture. Their women 
and children worked in the fields and were cultivating o-^od 
crops of grain, and their condition was undergoing such 
rapid improvement when contrasted with their former rov- 
ing life and their precarious means of gaining a livelihood, 
that there is no question in my mind, if they had been un- 
molested, the next generation would have found them agri- 
culturists and not hunters. But this desirable end was not 
destined to be consummated. 

After they had made some considerable improvements 
upon their lands, their value was so much enhanced that 
they became an object worthy the attention of those lawless 
border robbers that inhabit Western Texas, and, as I was 
informed, they organized a large force, went to the reserva- 
tion, and, without the slightest provocation from the In- 
dians, attacked and indiscriminately murdered many of the 
men, women, and children. Those that escaped the foul 
massacre made their way into the Plains, and this pretty 
much broke up the settlement. 

Major Neighbors, who subsequently commented severely 
upon the turpitude of the act, was shortly afterward shot in 
the back by one of the cowardly assassins, and died in a 
short time. 

Senaco and his band never settled upon the reservation, 
but made war upon the whites for attempting to coerce 
them into the measure, and they continue to roam over the 
Plains to this dav. 



224 WINTER EXPEDITION. 



CHAPTER YIII. 

WINTER EXPEDITION OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 

• 

Winter Expedition over the Rocky Mountains. — Objects of the Expedition. 
— General Scott's Opinions. — Leaving Fort Bridger. — Desertion of Indian 
Guide. — Descending Mountain. — Singular Corral. — Reach Grand River. 
— Ute Indians. — Commence the Ascent of the Rocky Mountains. — Snow, 
— Cache Luggage. — Mules giving out and dying. — Provisions consumed. 
— Commence eating Mules. — Ptarmigan. — Getting lost. — New Guide. — 
Excellent Conduct of the Soldiers. — Destitute Condition. — Bivouac. — 
Reach the Summit of the Mountains. — Send Messengers to Fort Massa- 
chusetts. — Return of the Messengers. — Joy of the Party. — Mariano. — 
Overeating. — Arrival at Fort Massachusetts. — Arrival at Taos. — Compar- 
ative Qualities of diiferent Animals in Snow. 

During the month of November, 1857, while our troops 
were encamped at Fort Bridger, in Utah Territory, I was 
ordered, with a command of forty enlisted men, to cross the 
mountains by the most direct route into New Mexico, and 
procure supplies. 

As but little, if any thing, is known to the public about 
this expedition, and as a great deal has been written and 
said concerning others of a similar character, which, per- 
haps, were of no more importance in their results than this, 
I trust that a brief account of some of the most prominent 
incidents connected with that journey will not prove unin- 
teresting. 

The objects of this march are set forth in the following 
extracts from the report of the Secretary of War for 1858. 
He says: "The destruction of our trains by the Mormons, 
and the disasters which necessarily flowed from it, drove 



REPORT OF SECRETARY OF "WAR. 225 

General Johnston to the necessity of sending a detachment 
of men to New Mexico for supplies essential to enable him 
to prosecute his march with all practicable dispatch. 

" This expedition was intrusted to Captain R. B. Marcj, 
of the 5th Infantry ; and, without intending to make an in- 
vidious comparison between the services of officers where 
all are meritorious, it is but just to bring the conduct of 
this officer and his command to your especial notice. It 
may be safely affirmed that, in the whole catalogue of haz- 
ardous expeditions scattered so thickly through the history 
of our border warfare, filled as many of them are with ap- 
palling tales of privation, hardship, and suffering, not one 
surpasses this, and in some particulars it has been hardly 
equaled by any. 

" Captain Marcy left Fort Bridger on the 24th day of 
November, 1857, with a command of forty enlisted men, 
and twenty-five mountain men, besides packers and guides. 
Their course lay through an almost trackless wilderness, 
over lofty and rugged mountains, without a pathway or 
human habitation to guide or direct, in the very depth of 
winter, through snows, for many miles together, reaching 
to the depth of five feet. Their beasts of burden very rap- 
idly perished until very few were left ; their supplies gave 
out; their luggage was abandoned; they were driven to 
subsist upon the carcasses of their dead horses and mules ; 
all the men became greatly emaciated ; some were frost- 
bitten, yet not one murmur of discontent escaped the lips 
of a single man. Their mission was one of extreme im- 
portance to the movements of the army, and great disaster 
might befall the command if these devoted men failed to 
bring succor to the camp. They had one and all volun- 
teered for this service, and, although they might freeze or 
die, yet they would not complain. 

"After a march of fifty-one days, they emerged from the 



226 THANKS OF GENERAL-IN-CHIEF, 

forests, and found themselves at Fort Massachusetts, in 
New Mexico. 

"During their whole march Captain Marcy 'shared all 
the privations of the common soldier, marching, sleeping, 
and eating as they did." 

After my return to Fort Bridger, I had the honor of re- 
ceiving the following letter : 

"Head-quarters of the Army, New York, May 29, 1858. 

" Sir, — I am instructed by the general-in-chief to say to 
you, in reply to your letter of the 29th of March (reporting 
my movements), that the unconquerable energy, patience, 
and devotedness to duty displayed by yourself and the 
command intrusted to your skillful guidance and direction, 
have been highly appreciated by himself, and that the un- 
usual sufferings and hard labor to which the troops were 
exposed in accomplishing their arduous march in the depth 
of winter has been made known to the whole country by 
the public press. * * * * The general-in-chief will 
not fail to commend your admirable conduct to the special 
notice of the War Department. 

" I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
(Signed) "Geo. W. Lay, Lieut. ColandA.D.C. 

"Captain II. B. Marcy, 5tli Infantry." 

When we left Fort Bridger there was only six inches of 
snow on the ground, and my guides, as well as other mount- 
ain men, were of opinion that we should not, at that early 
season, find over two feet of snow upon the summit of the 
mountains. They also believed that we could make the 
trip to Fort Massachusetts, New Mexico, in twenty-five 
days; but, to make sure of having enough, provisions, I 
deemed it wise to take thirty days' supply, which, with our 
luggage, was packed upon sixty-six mules. 



THE START. 227 

After bidding adieu to our friends at Fort Bridger, we 
proceeded down Henry's Fork to its confluence with Green 
Eiver, where we forded the latter stream, and followed a 
trail that led us to the foot of the mountain dividing Green 
from Grand Eiver. Here we found three lodges of Digger 
Utes, and engaged one of them to act as guide over the 
mountain. Our first day's march from here up a very cir- 
cuitous cauou brought us to the top of this mountain, where 
we found the snow nearly two feet in depth. We en- 
camped at the head of the canon, and, after supper, our In- 
dian guide came to me and expressed some doubt as to 
whether we were in possession of the articles he had been 
promised for his services, and Jim Baker, the interpreter, 
advised that they should be shown to him. According!}^, 
the knife, powder, lead, and paint were spread out before 
him ; and, although I rather disapproved the proceeding. 
Baker allowed him to take possession of them. 

Before I lay down for the night I posted sentinels around 
the camp, and directed the guard to keep careful watch 
upon the Indian. About midnight I was awakened by 
the sergeant of the guard, who reported that he believed 
our Indian guide intended deserting, as he had placed his 
rifle and all his other effects in such a position that he 
could s6ize them instantly, and he appeared to be watch- 
ing for an opportunity to break away. I repeated to the 
sergeant the order to guard him closely, and directed him, 
if he made any attempt at deserting us, to seize and tie 
him. 

In the, course of an hour the sergeant returned with the 
intelligence that, in spite of all his vigilance, the fellow had 
broken away from the guard and escaped. I regretted 
this, because we wanted his services to pilot us across the 
summit of the mountain on the following day. We were 
obliged, however, to set out without him, and, shortly after 



228 A NATURAL CORRAL. 

emerging from the caiion, found ourselves upon a level 
plateau about ten miles wide. Our track led us across this 
elevated table-land, which we found terminating in a tow- 
ering and almost perpendicular cliff or bluff, bordering the 
valley of Grand River, and some two thousand feet above 
it. On reaching this lofty escarpment, it did not seem pos- 
sible that our mules could descend it, and, indeed, I had 
been previously told that there was but one place for fifty 
miles along this cliff where the declivity was practicable 
for animals, and this was at a point where the Indians had 
cut out a narrow path along the face of the bluff, winding 
around over rocks and along the brinks of deep chasms. 

We bivouacked in the snow directly upon the verge of 
this precipice, where we had a magnificent view of the val- 
ley of Grand River and the Rocky Mountains beyond. .Im- 
mediately after we halted I sent out Baker to search for 
the trail leading into the valley, and it was not until late at 
night that he discovered it. In the morning we entered the 
tortuous defile and commenced the descent, which we found 
exceedingly precipitous and slippery. Our pack mules 
had great difficulty in keeping their footing. Occasionally 
one of them would fall, and, with his pack, roll over and 
over for thirty or forty feet down the rocks, until he was 
brought up by a tree or projecting crag. At length, how- 
ever, after numerous tumbles and somersaults, we reached 
the valley at the base, and, to our surprise, found the grass 
green, and not a particle of snow upon the ground, while, 
as I said before, directly over our heads, upon the summit 
of the plateau, it lay two feet deep. We discovered at this 
place a naturally inclosed pasture, containing about two 
hundred acres, surrounded by an almost perpendicular trap 
wall some two hundred feet in height, and with but one 
opening of not more than a hundred yards wide. Our ani- 
mals were all turned into this natural corral^ and a herds- 



DIGGER INDIANS. 229 

man stationed at the opening secured them as perfectly as 
if they had been shut up in a stable. 

We picked up a horse here that had become very fat 
upon the rich hunch grass. He had probably been lost or 
abandoned by the Indians. We appropriated the animal, 
and subsequently used him for food in the mountains. 

On the 8th of December we struck Grand Eiver near 
the confluence of its two principal branches, the Uncompa- 
dre and the Bunkara. We forded them, but with much dif- 
ficulty, as the water was deep and rapid, and filled with 
floating ice, and encamped at the base of the " Elk Mount- 
ain," near the remains of an old Indian trading establish- 
ment, which had formerly been occupied by a man named 
Eobedeau, of St. Louis, who wandered out into ^his remote 
wilderness many years ago, but was subsequently driven 
away and his buildings burned by the Indians. 

We were at this point within a few miles from the west- 
ern base of the Eocky Mountains, which rose in formidable 
proportions in front of us, and appeared covered with a 
heavy coating of snow. Thus far our journey had been 
pleasant, and we had encountered no serious obstacles. 
Our animals had found abundance of grass, and were in fair 
condition. 

But, as the guides informed me that we were to enter the 
mountains at this point, their appearance gave me serious 
apprehensions for the future. We here fell in with a large 
band of Digger Ute Indians, who were subsisting upon rab- 
bits, bugs, crickets, etc. They came flocking around us as 
soon as we arrived, examining every thing, and begging 
for such articles as happened to take their fancy. They 
were a ragged, villainous-looking set, and we had our hands 
full in keeping the women from stealing every thing that 
came in their way. 

They had a good many ponies ; but, although we offered 

U 



230 DISCOURAGEMENT. 

large prices for some of them, we could not induce them to 
part with a single one. Their curiosity appeared a good 
deal exercised to ascertain our business in their country ; 
and when we informed them that we were bound for New 
Mexico, they expressed great astonishment, and would point 
to the mountains and shiver as if with cold. 

I endeavored to persuade the chief to accompany us as 
guide to the summit of the mountains, and offered him 
the value of three horses in goods, but he peremptorily re- 
fused, saying that he was not yet ready to die, and that, un- 
less we turned back, or stopped and passed the winter with 
them, we would all inevitably perish. My interpreter asked 
him if he took us for a set of old women, who would be in- 
timidated by a little snow ; and added, that he had always 
before taken him for a warrior and a man, but now he had 
discovered his mistake, and he would advise him to go back 
to his lodge, cover up warm, and assist his squaw in tend- 
ing the babies ; that we were of the masculine gender ; we 
had started to cross the mountains into New Mexico, and 
were going to accomplish it at all hazards, and if he did not 
feel disposed to go, we could dispense with his services. 
This taunt had no effect upon him, however. He persisted 
in refusing to go with us, saying that all we had would not 
be sufficient to induce him to attempt the journey. I then 
asked him how much snow he supposed we would find in 
the mountains? He replied that he was not positive as to 
the exact depth, but that he crossed over the same route 
we proposed to travel in the autumn, when the leaves were 
commencing to fall, and that he then found about one foot 
upon the summit; that there had been a great deal of rain 
in the valley since that time, which he presumed had its 
equivalent in snow upon the mountains, and he was of 
opinion that we might encounter from four to five feet, and 
perhaps "even more than that. He concluded by sajnng, 



DEEP SNOW. 231 

"You may think I -do not tell the truth, but if you will 
only cast your eyes toward the mountains you can see for 
yourselves that the snow is there." 

On the following morning (the 11th day. of December), 
in despite of the gloomy and discouraging prospects held 
out to us by the Digger chief, we packed up our mules 
and commenced the ascent of the western slope of the 
Rocky Mountains. We had proceeded but a few miles 
when the snow began very seriously to impede our prog- 
ress. On the second day it became still deeper, with a 
crust upon the surface, which cut the legs of our animals 
seriously, and caused some of them to refuse their work. 
We, however, j^ushed on, until at length we found the snow 
so deep that they could no longer force their way through 
it, and I was now obliged to resort to a new order of march. 
Up to this time we had, for the security of our animals, 
adopted the plan of marching with an advanced guard, im- 
mediately followed by the pack mules, with the main party 
in rear. 

I now placed the greater part of the command in front, 
in single rank, so as to break a track for the animals. This 
was, of course, very hard work upon a few of the leading 
men ; and, in order to equalize the labor as much as possi- 
ble, I directed that every man, as he came in front, should 
retain that position a certain length of time, after which he 
was permitted to turn out of the track and allow all the 
others to pass him, taking his place in rear. By these al- 
ternations the work was very much lightened, and, after 
all the party had passed, a good track was left for the ani- 
mals. And they really required all our care, as, from the 
time we entered the mountains, they received no other sus- 
tenance than what they derived from the bitter pine-leaves. 
The effects of this novel and unwholesome fora2;e soon be- 
gan to manifest itself upon them. They became weak and 



232 BREAKING THE TRACK. 

exhausted, and at lengtTi began to give out and die. I was 
then obliged to cache, or hide, all our surplus luggage, which 
reduced the weight of the packs very considerably. Not- 
withstanding this, they continued to perish. One day we 
lost five, and another day as many as eight died out of our 
little stock. This gave me very serious uneasiness, as our 
supply of provisions was becoming very §mall, and I knew, 
after these were gone, our only dependence for subsistence 
must be upon our famished animals^ Our beef cattle had 
nearly all been consumed, and our stock of bread was very 
limited. I felt the necessity of husbanding the strength of 
my men and animals as much as possible. I therefore or- 
dered the command to throw away every article of baggage 
they had remaining excepting one blanket each and their 
arms and ammunition. They cheerfully complied with the 
order, and we thus made another very material reduction 
in the weight of our packs, which enabled our enfeebled 
animals to proceed with more ease. 

The snow increased day after day as we ascended, until 
it was four feet deep, and was so dry and light that the 
men, walking in an upright position, would sink to their 
waists, and could not move. One of the guides made a 
pair of snow shoes, and attempted to walk upon them, but 
they sank so deep in the soft snow that it was impossible 
to use them. 

Our only alternative now, in the deepest snow, was for 
the three or four leading men of the party to lie down and 
crawl upon their hands and feet, each man following in the 
tracks of the leader, and all placing their hands and feet in 
the same holes. This method packed the snow so that, 
after a few men had passed, it bore up the others, and was 
sufficiently firm to sustain the mules after all the men had 
traversed it. 

The leading man was generally able to go about fifty 



OUT OF TOBACCO. 233 

yards before he became exhausted ; but I had one soldier, 
named McLeod, of the 10th Infantry, whose powers of en- 
durance exceeded those of any other man I have ever 
known. He would generally, when his turn came to lead 
the party, make about four times the distance of any other 
man. He was always in good spirits, and never became 
weary or discouraged, and his example had a most cheer- 
ing effect upon his comrades. One bitter cold day, after 
having labored very hard, we halted for a few moments, 
and made fires to warm our feet. While standing over the 
fire, I took out my pipe, and, cutting a little tobacco from a 
small piece I had remaining, indulged myself in a smoke, 
the men having used their last tobacco some ten days be- 
fore. McLeod was standing near me at the time, and, be- 
ing desirous of doing something to show my appreciation 
of his valuable service, I handed him the precious morsel 
of tobacco, and asked him if he would not like to smoke. 
He replied, " No, I thank you, captain, I never smoke." I 
suggested that he was very fortunate in not being addicted 
to the habit at a time when tobacco was so very scarce. 
After a moment's hesitation, he said, ^^ I sometimes take a 
chew^'' when I told him to help himself, which he did, and 
immediately exclaimed, " I never tasted any thing so good 
in my life ; I would have given ten dollars for that, cap- 
tain." 

Notwithstanding I reduced the rations one half, our pro- 
visions were all consumed long before we reached the top 
of the mountains, and we were then entirely dependent 
upon our famished animals for food. 

Our first repast upon the novel regimen was from a colt 
belonging to Tim Goodale's Indian wife, who accompanied 
us, and underwent the hardships of the trip with astonish- 
ing patience and fortitude. 

She cried very bitterly when the colt was killed, as it 

U* 



234 MULE-STEAKS. 

had always been her pet ; but she realized the necessity of 
the sacrifice, and was consoled upon my promising her an- 
other on our arrival in New Mexico. . 

We found the meat well-flavored, tender, and palatable. 

Our next meal was from a very old, lean, and tough mare 
which had given out and could perform no farther service. 
This we found any thing but a " bonne bouche." We were, 
however, very hungry, and ate it. 

After this our only diet for twelve days consisted of 
starved miiles as they became exhausted and could go no 
farther. Twelve of my men had frozen their feet so badly 
as to be unable to walk, and we were obliged to appropri- 
ate all our serviceable animals to carry them. I had given 
up my own horse to one of these men, and took his place 
in the snow with the others. We had not a single morsel 
of any thing left to eat except these animals. If we had 
had some salt we would have done better, but that was all 
gone. I was in the habit of sprinkling a little gunpowder 
upon my mule-steaks, and it did not then require a very 
extensive stretch of the imagination to fancy the presence 
of both pepper and salt. 

This lean meat did not, however, by any means satisfy 
the cravings of the appetite, and we were continually long- 
ing for fat meat. Although we consumed large quantities 
of the mule meat, yet within half an hour from the time we 
had- finished our meals we would feel as hungry as before 
we had eaten. 

One day, as we were making our weary way through the 
deepest snow near the summit of the mountains, and when 
we were suffering severely from the intense cold, and the 
piercing winds which sweep over those high altitudes, my 
guide, Tim Goodale, called out to me from the front, and 
pointing toward a snow-bank, said there were some birds 
he had never but once before seen. 



WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 235 

I cast my eyes in the direction indicated, but could dis- 
cern nothing until the birds rose up and flew away. "We 
subsequently killed two of them, and, upon examination, 
found them about the size of the partridge of the North, or 
the pheasant of the South. They were as white as the snow 
itself, without a single colored feather, and their method of 
flying, and their appearance in other respects, was very sirn- 
ilar to that of the grouse. I was quite confident we had 
discovered a new variety of that species of bird, until two 
specimens which were sent to Professor Baird, of the Smith- 
sonian Institute, showed them to be the ^'- Sagopus leucurus,''^ 
or white-tailed ptarmigan, a species of which but two or 
three specimens are said to be found in any ornithological 
collections, and those are in Europe. This beautiful bird, 
which, in its winter plumage, is as white as the snow upon 
which we invariably found them, was before supposed to be 
confined to that part of the Rocky Mountain chain north 
of latitude 54° north. The specimens sent to Professor 
Baird are said by him to be the first indications of their 
occurrence within the limits of our possessions, and it ex- 
tends their supposed range about a thousand miles to the 
south. 

• These birds were the only glimpses of animal life that we 
had met with, outside of our own party, during thirty days 
that we were struggling through the deep snow. 

The following is an extract from my journal, written on 
the evening of the 1st of January. 

' " This morning dawned upon us with gloomy auspices, 
far from promising to us a happy New Year. We have 
been engaged since daylight this morning in wallowing 
along through snow at least five feet deep, and have only 
succeeded, by the severest toil, in making about two miles 
during the entire day. From our bivouac to-night we can 
see the fires of last night, and in the darkness they do not 



236 ' COCHETOPE PASS. 

appear over a rifle-sliot distant. The leading men have 
been obliged to crawl upon their hands and knees to pre- 
vent sinking to their necks, and could only go a few yards 
at a time before they were compelled, in a state of complete 
exhaustion, to throw themselves down and let others take 
their places. 

"Grallant fellows! Many of them are almost barefooted, 
and several whose feet have been frozen have suffered in- 
tensely from pain and cold. Yet every soldier, without a 
single exception, has performed every thing I required of 
him cheerfully and manfully ; they have never faltered, 
or uttered a murmur of complaint. I feel for them from 
the bottom of my heart, and I should be recreant to my 
duty as their commander if I neglected to give expression 
to my profound gratitude for the almost superhuman efforts 
put forth by them to extricate the party from our perilous 
position." 

At one period of this toilsome journey, while we were 
ascending the Eagle-tail Eiver, a branch of the Grand Riv- 
er, my guide made a mistake, and took the wrong direc- 
tion for the " Cochetope Pass," the point at which we were 
aiming, and which was, as I was well aware, the only place 
where it was possible for us to cross the summit of the 
chain, as on the north and south of this passway the mount- 
ains were much more elevated, and the snow so deep at 
that season that it would have been utterly impossible for 
us, in our enfeebled and famished condition, to have forced 
our way through it. It was only fifty miles south of the 
Cochetope Pass that General Fremont attempted to pene- 
trate these mountains from New Mexico, and encountered 
so much snow that all his animals perished, and he was 
forced to turn back, with the loss of several of his men, be- 
fore the party was extricated from their perilous position. 
We traveled the greatest part of the day in the wrong di- 



LOSING THE WAY. 237 

rection ; and after we had bivouacked for the night, one of 
my employes, a Mexican by the name of Miguel Alona, 
came to me and told me that we had left the right direc- 
tion in the morning, and, pointing toward a depression in 
the mountains at right angles to the course we had taken, 
some thirty miles distant, said that was the Cochetope Pass. 
I asked him how it happened that he knew any thing about 
the country. He replied that he had been there before, and 
that he knew it well. Whereupon I called up the guide, 
and upon questioning him in regard to it, he admitted that 
the face of the country, buried as it was in deep snows, pre- 
sented so different an appearance from what it did in the 
summer season, when he had traversed it before, that it was 
possible he might have been mistaken ; but still he be- 
lieved he was right. I did not blame him, as this might 
have occurred with any one; but this first exhibition of 
doubt on his part caused me great uneasiness, and I now 
regarded our situation as involving us in imminent peril. 
We had advanced too far to retrace our steps, and the only 
alternative left us was to go forward ; and I asked the Mex- 
ican if he was willing to act as guide, telling him I would, 
in addition to his regular pay, make him a handsome pres- 
ent for his services, provided he conducted us in safety to 
New Mexico ; but I also informed him that if at any time 
I discovered he was leading us in a wrong direction, I 
should hang him to the first tree. 

He was quite displeased at this, saying that he was sorry 
I should think he would attempt to deceive me. I told 
him all I required was for him to be sure he was right, and 
to think over the matter deliberately, and come back and 
let me know if he was willing to enter into the agreement 
upon the terms proposed by me. He returned in a short 
time and said, "I'll risk my neck on it, captain." "Very 
well," I replied, "you are guide." 



238 BRAVE SOLDIERS. 

From this time the uncertainty of our position, and the 
knowledge of the fact that if we failed to strike the Coche- 
tope Pass we must all inevitably perish, gave me great anx- 
iety, and prevented me from sleeping for several nights. 
There was not the slightest sign of a road, trail, or foot- 
mark to guide us ; all was one vast, illimitable expanse of 
snow as far as the eye could penetrate ; and the rnountains 
rose before us, peak upon peak, until they were lost in the 
clouds. Not £\, living animal outside of our own party was 
seen for many, many long days; all was dreary, desolate 
solitude ; but my noble soldiers struggled manfully ahead, 
and not a single murmur or complaint ever was heard to 
come from them ; on the contrary, they endeavored to give 
me encouragement, and requested the senior sergeant to in- 
form me that they had observed for a few days past that I 
looked melancholy, and they desired him to say to me that 
they were willing to eat mule meat, or to undergo any oth- 
er privations that I might think necessary, and that they 
would work for me as long as they could stand upon their 
legs. As before stated, I had already required them to 
throw away all their personal baggage except one blanket 
each, and the poor fellows were extremely destitute of ev- 
ery thing. They had worn out their shoes, and had patch- 
ed them with mule hides as long as they would hang to- 
gether, when some of them were obliged to wrap their feet 
in pieces of blankets or of their coat-tails to keep them 
from freezing. Many of them had worn out their pants, 
and their legs were greatly exposed. 

The dazzling reflection of the sun's rays from the snow 
was very painful, and made several of the men snow blind ; 
but we found a remedy for this by blacking our faces with 
powder or charcoal. 

The greatest deprivation we experienced, however, and 
the one which caused more suffering among the men than 



BILLY, THE MULE. 239 

any other, was the want of tobacco. All our tobacco was 
consumed long before we reached the summit of the mount- 
ains, and no one who has not been accustomed to the use 
of the weed can imagine the intense longing produced by 
being suddenly deprived of it. 

An incident occurred while we were in the mountains 
which struck me at the time as being one of the most re- 
markable and touching evidences of devotion that I have 
ever known evinced among the brute creation. 

On leaving Fort Leavenworth with the army for Utah in 
the previous summer, one of the officers rode a small mule, 
whose kind and gentle disposition soon caused him to be- 
come a favorite among the soldiers, and they named him 
" Billy." As this of&cer and myself were often thrown to- 
gether upon the march, the mule, in the course of a few 
days, evinced a growing attachment for a mare that I rode. 
The sentiment was not, however, reciprocated on her part, 
and she intimated as much by the reversed position of her 
ears, and the free exercise of her feet and teeth whenever 
Billy came within her reach. But these signal marks of 
displeasure, instead of discouraging, rather seemed to in- 
crease his devotion, and whenever at liberty he invariably 
sought to get near her, and aj)peared much distressed when 
not permitted to follow her. 

^ On leaving Camp Scott for New Mexico Billy was among 
the number of mules selected for the expedition. During 
the march I was in the habit, when starting out from camp 
in the morning, of leading off the party, and directing the 
packmen to hold the mule until I should get so far in ad- 
vance with the mare that he could not see us ; but the mo- 
ment he was released he would, in spite of all the efforts of 
the packers, start off at a most furious pace, and never stop 
or cease braying until he reached the mare's side. We soon 
found it impossible to keep him with the other mules, and 
he was finally permitted to have his own way. 



240 BKUTE CONSTANCY. 

In the course of time we encountered the deep snows in 
the Eocky Mountains, where the animals could get no for- 
age, and Billy, in common with the others, at length be- 
came so weak and jaded that he was unable any longer to 
leave his place in the caravan and break a track through 
the snow around to the front. He made frequent attempts 
to turn out and force his way ahead, but after numerous 
unsuccessful efforts he would fall down exhausted, and set 
up a most mournful braying. 

The other mules soon began to fail, and to be left, worn 
out and famished, to die by the wayside. It was not, how- 
ever, for some time that Billy showed symptoms of becom- 
ing one of the victims, until one evening after our arrival 
at camp I was informed that he had dropped down and 
been left upon the road during the day. The men all de- 
plored his loss exceedingly, as his devotion to the mare 
had touched their kind hearts, and many expressions of 
sympathy were uttered around their bivouac fires on that 
evening. 

Much to our surprise, however, about ten o'clock, just as 
we were about going to sleep, we heard a mule braying 
about half a mile to the rear upon our trail. Sure enough, 
it proved to be Billy, who, after having rested, had followed 
upon our track and overtaken us. As soon as he reached 
the side of the mare he lay down and seemed perfectly con- 
tented. 

The next day I relieved him from his pack, and allowed 
him to run loose; but during the march he gave out, and 
was again abandoned to his fate, and this time we certainly 
never expected to see him more. To our great astonish- 
ment, however, about twelve o'clock that night the sonor- 
ous but not very musical notes of Billy in the distance 
aroused us from our slumbers, and again announced his ap- 
proach. In an instant the men were upon their feet, gave 



BIVOUAC IN THE SNOW. 241 

three hearty cheers, and rushed out in a body to meet and 
escort him into camp. ■ 

But this well-meant ovation elicited no response from 
him. He came reeling and floundering along through the 
deep snow, perfectly regardless of these honors, pushing 
aside all those who occupied the trail or interrupted his 
progress in the least, wandering about until he found the 
mare, dropped down by her side, and remained until morn- 
ing. 

When we resumed our march on the following day he 
made another desperate effort to proceed, but soon fell down 
exhausted, when we reluctantly abandoned him, and saw 
him no more. 

Alas ! poor Billy ! your constancy deserved a better fate ; 
you may, indeed, be said to have been a victim to unre- 
quited affection. 

The method of constructing our bivouac was ft)r each set 
of two or three men to dig a hole about seven or eight feet 
square down through the snow to the ground, where a bed 
was made of soft pine twigs, over which a blanket was 
spread. Two forked sticks were then set upright in the 
snow to the windward of the centre, and across them a hor- 
izontal pole was laid, and extending from this to the snow 
a thick covering of pine bushes was placed, forming a sort 
of roof that shielded us perfectly from the wind. This ar- 
rangement, with good fires at the bottom of the pits, ena- 
bled us to keep tolerably warm during the coldest nights. 
We suffered more from the cold during the daytime, and 
it was while marching that the men froze their feet. 

From some cause or other which was incomprehensible 
to me, the men were often attacked with violent cramps in 
the stomach, even before they commenced eating mule meat, 
and the symptoms in all cases were nearly the same. I in- 
variably administered for it a dose of about twenty grains 

X 



242 THE TOP OF THE PASS. 

of blue mass, which afforded temporary relief, but on the 
second or third day following the complaint generally re- 
turned in a more aggravated form than at first, and I then 
gave another dose of about thirty grains of the same medi- 
cine, which never failed to effect a permanent cure. 

After I had placed Miguel in the position of guide, we 
struggled along up the western slope of the mountains as 
rapidly as the snow and our exhausted condition would 
permit, and, at the expiration of ten days, found ourselves 
upon the summit of a mountain, which the guide pro- 
nounced the long-looked-for Cochetope Pass — that Mecca 
of our most ardent aspirations. 

Although I was by no means certain he was right, yet I 
was much rejoiced, and I now felt in a great measure re- 
lieved from the burden of responsibility which had given 
me such anxiety and distress of mind during the last twen- 
ty days an^ nights. 

From the crest of the great continental vertebral column 
of the Rocky Mountain chain, with one foot standing upon 
the earth drained by the waters of the Pacific, and the oth- 
er upon that from which flowed a tributary to the Atlantic, 
we could see in the east, stretching off from the foot of the 
mountains, a vast plain, extending to the south as far as the 
eye could reach. This, the guide informed me, was the val- 
ley of the Rio del Norte ; and a mountain, which we could 
discern on the opposite side of this valley, apparently a 
hundred miles distant, he said was near Fort Massachu- 
setts. 

As we still had three good mules remaining, I determ- 
ined to send forward Mariano and Miguel to Fort Massa- 
chusetts, to bring us back supplies, as we were now reduced 
to a state bordering on starvation. Accordingly, I wrote a 
letter to the commanding officer, telling him our situation, 
and requesting him to forward us succor as soon as possible. 



THE RELIEF. 243 

These men took the good mules and started, and we fol- 
lowed on their tracks, expecting they would return to us 
with the supplies in about six or seven days ; but we con- 
tinued on the trail, until finally the snow had covered it 
up, so that we could no longer see it, and at length, after 
ten days, as the men did not return, we concluded they 
must have perished or been lost. On the eleventh day we 
reached the extended valley at the base of the mountains, 
and, for the first time in thirty days, found a little dry grass 
appearing above the snow. As our few remaining mules 
were greatly famished, I concluded to make a halt for a 
day at this place and let them graze. We had not yet seen 
a human being outside of our own party since we left Grand 
Kiver, thirty-one days before, and we were all anxiously 
looking out for the return of our messengers from Fort 
Massachusetts, Nothing appeared, however, until near sun- 
set, when one of the soldiers, upon an elevation near camp, 
cried out, " There comes two men on horseback ;" and, 
sure enough, in a few moments, up galloped our long-absent 
companions upon fresh horses, firing their revolvers, and 
making other demonstrations of joy. 

We knew from their fresh horses that they had reached 
the fort and that we were now saved, and the exhibition of 
joy manifest among the command exceeded any thing of 
the. kind ever beheld. Some of the men laughed, danced, 
and screamed with delight, while others (and I must con- 
fess I was not one among the former) cried like children. 
I had not slept half an hour at a time for twent}'' days 
and nights, and was reduced from 170 to 131 pounds in 
weight, and, of course, my nervous system was not at that 
juncture under very good control. My joy was too great, 
under the circumstances, to find utterancg in noise or lev- 
ity ; on the contrary, I mentally offered up sincere thanks 
to the Almighty for delivering us from the horrible death 
of starvation. 



244 BRANDY. 

The mere accident of Miguel's happening to be with us, 
without any doubt, saved our lives, as without him we 
could never have found the pass, and must have perished 
in the mountain. 

As soon as Mariano arrived he was surrounded by the 
men, eagerly entreating him for tobacco, when he produced 
a large plug of Cavendish, and threw it among them. It 
was in an instant torn to pieces and distributed, but one 
man had been omitted in the division, and I heard him of- 
fer ten dollars, or a month's pay, for a quid. 

Mariano informed me that he had delivered my letter to 
Captain Bowman, the commanding officer at Fort Massa- 
chusetts, who at once dispatched three wagons with sup- 
plies for us ; that these wagons left the fort with him, and 
were then probably about fifty miles back, as he had come 
very rapidly, I at once turned him back, with an order 
for the man in charge to drive night and day until he met 
us ;• and early on the following morning we resumed our 
march, and had not gone over ten miles, when, much to our 
delight, we met the wagons, and immediately went into 
camp. I was obliged to guard them very closely, to pre- 
vent the men from getting at the provisions, as I was fully 
aware of the danger of overeating after long abstinence. 

Among other things which Captain Bowman had kindly 
sent me was a jug of brandy, and, as I thought this a prop- 
er occasion to indulge my men in the good cheer that they 
had been so long deprived of, I issued to each of them a 
moderate drink of the liquor, but, much to my astonish- 
ment, in a short time many of them were very much under 
the influence of it, and some even crazy drunk. It had 
acted upon their empty stomachs much more potently than 
I had anticipated, but I felt no inclination to censure them 
for this ; on the contrary, I entertained a feeling some- 
what similar to that of General Jackson when a charge of 




H 

a 

m 

H 
p3 
O 

a 

> 



FORT MASSACHUSETTS. 247 

drunkenness was made to him against an officer who had 
rendered conspicuous services in the war of 1812, and he re- 
plied that Colonel C.'s gallant conduct in battle authorized 
him to continue drunk during the remainder of his life, if 
he thought proper. I conceived that my men had a per- 
fect right to get drunk after what they had endured. 

We had a most luxurious supper, and all enjoyed it 
hugely ; but during the night, several of the men, not feel- 
ing satisfied with the soup I had thought it wise to confine 
them to, had gone to the wagons and prevailed upon the 
sentinels to allow them to take enough to gorge themselves 
so much that the next morning found them suffering most 
excruciating torture, and one of the poor fellows died the 
next day. 

On the fourth day after this we marched into Fort Mas- 
sachusetts, and were most hospitably received by the offi- 
cers and soldiers of the garrison, who supplied us with 
clothing, provisions, and every thing else we needed. 

As we approached the fort, one of the officers compli- 
mented us by saying that he took us for a band of prairie 
Indians. Not more than one half of the men had any caps, 
and but few had any remains of trowsers below the knees. 
Their feet were tied up with mule hides, pieces of blankets, 
coat-tails, etc., and they certainly were rough and ragged- 
looking specimens of United States soldiers. As for my- 
self, I am confident my own wife would not have recog- 
nized me. I had set out from Fort Bridger with a ward- 
robe of stout material suited to the rough work which I ex- 
pected to encounter, but I had divided this among my des- 
titute men until I was myself reduced to a scanty allow- 
ance. Among other garments I had remaining was a sol- 
dier's overcoat, from the skirts of which I was in the habit 
of cutting off pieces to patch my pants and stockings; and 
as rents in these were of every-day occurrence, by the time 



248 Mariano's suppers. 

I reached the fort there was but very little left of my orig- 
inal coat-tails. 

Mariano and Miguel, whom I had sent forward with the 
message to the commanding officer, had experienced great 
suffering from hunger upon their trip, and had been obliged 
to kill one of their mules for food before they arrived at 
the fort. 

Mariano took lodgings with a Mexican living in the fort, 
and immediately ordered a bountiful supper, which he said 
he devoured with exceeding gusto, and called for more. 
After this had been disposed of, he says he smoked his 
pipe and related incidents of his journey to the family until 
about nine o'clock, when he began to feel hungry again, 
and offered the hostess two dollars if she would cook him 
another supper, which she willingly did, and he again did 
ample justice to its merits. This he thought would suffice 
him until morning. Accordingly, he laid down and went 
to sleep ; but during the night he awoke, and, to his sur- 
prise, found himself again very hungry. The family were 
all abed, and asleep at this time ; the fire was out, and he 
was loth to disturb them, and he endured the cravings of 
his appetite for some time ; but at length, not being able to 
stand it any longer, he called out to the woman of the 
house, telling her if she would be so kind as to get up and 
cook him one more supper he would give her five dollars. 
This tempting offer had the effect he desired, and he ate 
the fourth repast, which he smilingly informed me enabled 
him to worry through the remainder of the night. 

Some of my readers may be incredulous regarding the 
powers of Mariano for accomplishing such gastronomic 
feats ; but when it is considered that he was a half-breed 
Indian, and had been trained to their habits from infancy, 
it will not appear at all surprising to those who are familiar 
with Indian life. 



MONTE. 249 

From Fort Massachusetts we marched to Taos, New 
Mexico, where I paid off the citizens of my party, and of 
these Mariano received some five hundred dollars for his 
arduous and valuable services, which I thought would 
prove sufiicient to supply all his wants for a long period ; 
but my credulity was greatly taxed on the following morn- 
ing when he told me his money was all gone, and asked 
me for a loan of five dollars. I said to him, "Is it possible 
you have been robbed ?" He replied, " No, but me lose 
him all at monte, messieur." I gave him the modest loan 
he solicited, accompanied with an injunction against visit- 
ing the monte bank again. 

He thanked me for the advice, but at the same time ob- 
served, raising his eyes and shrugging his shoulders, "May- 
be some time me win, messieur." 

A few days after this I dispatched him back to Fort 
Bridger, via the South Pass, with a letter to General John- 
ston reporting our arrival in New Mexico. The return 
journey he accomplished successfully, and was handsomely 
rewarded by the general for his services. 

As it may be a subject of some interest to those who 
should ever have occasion to travel through deep snow to 
know the relative qualities of different animals, and their 
powers of endurance in this description of work, I will re- 
mark that I set out upon this journey with horses, mules, 
and oxen, the latter to be used as food. 

I found, as soon as we struck snow three feet deep, that 
the mules directly became disheartened, laid down, and 
would not exert themselves. The horses seemed more am- 
bitious, and would push their way through the snow as 
long as possible; but they soon became weary, and gave 
out from exhaustion ; while the oxen slowly and deliberate- 
ly plowed their way through the deep snow for a long time 
without becoming jaded. Moreover, they seemed to derive 



250 THE ox. 

much better sustenance from the pine leaves, and from 
browsing upon other trees, than the horses and mules. I 
am so well satisfied upon this subject that, if I was ever 
obliged to make another journey over the mountains in 
winter (which God forbid), I would take no other animals 
but oxen. They could be packed with luggage, and used 
as beef when required. There is also less danger of their 
stampeding or being stolen by Indians than with horses or 
mules. 



RETURN TRIP. 251 



CHAPTER IX. 

RETURN TRIP TO UTAH. 

Return Trip to Utah. — Route of the March.— Organization of the Party. — 
Order to Halt. — Fontaine-qui-bouilk. — Herd of Elk. — Arrival of Re-en- 
forcements. — Terrible Snow-storm. — Stampede. — Storms. — Platte River. 
— Denver City. — Arrival at Fort Bridger. — Entrance into Salt Lake 
City. — Scarcity of Mormons. — Salt Lake. — Bathing. — Mormon Industry. 
— Proclamation by Brigham Young. — Mormon Depredations. — Order of 
Daniel H. Wells.— Interview with Captain Van Vliet. — Tone of the Pul- 
pit and Press. — Benediction by Heber Kimball. 

Having accomplished the objects of mj mission to New 
Mexico by procuring animals and other supplies sufficient 
to enable the troops at Fort Bridger to make an early 
march into Salt Lake Valley, I, on the 15th day of March, 
left Fort Union on . my return for Utah, intending to pass 
around the eastern base of the mountains near Pike's Peak, 
and the head waters of the Arkansas and Platte Rivers, 
following the Cherokee trail from the " Cache la 'poudrer 
The command was well organized, and we made rapid 
progress for about two hundred and fifty miles, when, on 
the 27th day of March, I received an order from the gen- 
eral commanding in New Mexico to halt and await re-en- 
forcements. 

It appeared that General Johnston, commanding the 
troops in Utah, had received information that the Mor- 
mons intended sending out a force of their people to inter- 
cept our party, and stampede, scatter, or steal our animals. 
This information induced General Scott to believe that a 
force superior in numbers to that I had at my disposal was 
necessary to insure our safe return. 



252 FONTAINE-QUI-BOUILLE. 

I regretted the delay caused by this order, as I felt con- 
fident we were sufficiently strong to cope with any force 
the Mormons would be likely to send against us. More- 
over, I had anticipated that the "/Sczmfe" might take it into 
their heads to pay their respects to us before we reached 
Fort Bridger, and had made such dispositions in the organ- 
ization of the party as in my judgment would have ren- 
dered us perfectly secure against any molestations from 
them. I had about a hundred of the best trailers, hunters, 
and Indian fighters in New Mexico, and I intended, as soon 
as we reached a point where there was any probability the 
Mormons would come, to keep these men continually scout- 
ing at least a day in advance of the main command with 
the animals and supplies. They would, I believed, have 
discovered the presence of the Mormons before the latter 
were aware of our proximity, and my plan was to have the 
Mexicans, who were perfectly au fait in all such matters, 
either take or stampede all the Mormons' animals, thereby 
turning the tables upon them, and placing them on foot. 
But I had no discretion. T was obliged to obey the order, 
and went into camp upon the head waters, of a small tribu- 
tary of the Arkansas called ^'' Fontaine-qui-hoidlle^^'' directly 
at the foot of Pike's Peak, and near a very peculiar spring, 
which gives the name to the stream. 

This beautiful fountain issues from the centre of a basin, 
or rather bowl, about six feet in diameter, and throws out a 
column of water near the size of a man's arm. The recep- 
tacle, which is constantly filled, but never runs over, seems 
to have been formed by the deposit of salts from the water, 
and is as perfectly symmetrical and round as if it had been 
cut out with a chisel. 

As the fountain is constantly playing and never over- 
flows, it of course has a subterraneous outlet. 

The most remarkable feature, however, in the Fontaine- 



HERD OF ELK. 253 

qui-houille is the peculiar taste of the water. It is pungent 
and sparkling, and somewhat similar in taste to the water 
from the Congress Springs at Saratoga, but sweeter, and, 
to my palate, pleasanter. We drank it every day in large 
quantities without perceiving any ill effects from it, and 
the men made use of it instead of yeast in raising their 
bread, which induced the belief that it contained soda, or 
some other alkali. The Indians believe it to possess some 
mysterious powers, the purport of which I could not learn ; 
but there were a great many arrows, pieces of cloth, and 
other articles that they had deposited in the spring, proba- 
bly as offerings to the "big medicine" genius that presided 
over it. 

We remained at this place a month, during which time 
we amused ourselves in hunting elk, mountain sheep, and 
black-tailed deer, all of which were very abundant in the 
surrounding country, and our larder was constantly sup- 
plied with the most delicious game. 

I remember that one morning, just at daybreak, I was 
awakened by my servant, who told me there was a large 
herd of elk in close proximity to the camp. I raD out as 
soon as possible, and saw at least five hundred of these 
magnificent animals drawn up in line, like a troop of cav- 
alry horses, with their heads all turned in the same direc- 
tion, and from the crest of a high projecting cliff looking 
in apparent wonder and bewilderment directly down upon 
us. It was to me a most novel and interesting spectacle. 
The noise made in the camp soon frightened them, how- 
ever, and they started for the mountains. They were pur- 
sued for some distance by our hunters, who succeeded in 
killing six before they escaped. 

On the 30th day of April, our re-enforcements having 

joined us, we gladly resumed our march for Utah, and at 

about one o'clock encamped upon the ridge that divides 

Y 



25-i A FIERCE STORM. 

the Arkansas from the Platte Elvers. The day was bright, 
cheerful, and pleasant, the atmosphere soft, balmy, and de- 
lightful, the fresh grass was about six inches high, the trees 
had put forth their new leaves, and all nature conspired in 
.giving evidence that the sombre garb of winter had been 
cast aside for the more verdant and smiling attire of spring. 
Our large herds of animals were turned out to graze upon 
the tender and nutritious grass that every where abounded. 
Our men were enjoying their social jokes and pastimes after 
the fatigues of the day's march, and every thing indicated 
contentment and happiness. 

This pleasant state of things lasted until near sunset, 
when the wind suddenly changed into the north : it turned 
cold, and soon commenced snowing violently, and continu- 
ed to increase until it became a frightful winter tempest, 
filling the atmosphere with a dense cloud of driving snow, 
against which it was utterly impossible to ride or walk. 
Soon after the storm set in one of our herds of three hund- 
red horses and mules broke furiously away from the herds- 
men who were guarding them, and, in spite of their utmost 
efforts, ran at full speed, directly with the wind, for fifty 
miles before they stopped. Three of the herdsmen fol- 
lowed them as far as they were able, but soon became ex- 
hausted, bewildered, and lost on the prairie. 

One of them succeeded in finding his way back to camp 
in a state of great prostration and suffering. One of the 
others was found frozen to death in the snow, and the third 
was discovered crawling about upon his hands and knees, 
in a state of temporary delirium, after the tempest sub- 
sided. 

This terrific storm exceeded in violence and duration 
any thing of the kind our eldest mountaineers had ever be- 
held. It continued with uninterrupted fury for sixty con- 
secutive hours, and during this time it was impossible to 



ANIMALS IN A STORM. 257 

move for any distance facing the wind and snow. One of 
our employes, who went out about two hundred yards from 
camp, set out to return, but was unable to do so, and perish- 
ed in the attempt. 

The instincts of all our animals, excepting the herds al- 
luded to, led them to seek shelter in a grove of timber near 
camp, where they were somewhat protected from the fury 
of the gale. But several antelopes were found frozen upon 
the prairie after the storm. 

We had with us a flock of sheep, which scattered through- 
out the timber in every direction during the storm, and 
afterward were nearly as wild as deer ; they, like the in- 
sane herdsman, seemed to have lost their senses. 

I have noticed that horses and mules, during a severe 
storm upon the prairies, will generally turn their heads 
from the wind, and stand quiet until it is over. For in- 
stance, while we were en route for Utah, on the 30th of 
July, 1857, near the Big Blue, a very severe storm sudden- 
ly arose, which soon brought with it hailstones as large as 
pigeon's eggs. These formidable missiles pelted the com- 
mand so severely, that to me, who possess an exceedingly 
keen appreciation of the ridiculous, the cavalcade presented 
one of the most farcical and ludicrous pictures I ever be- 
held. 

The instant the hailstones commenced striking the ani- 
mals they probably supposed it a severe application of the 
whip, and started off furiously in every direction, without 
any regard to each other or to the road, and without sub- 
mitting to the slightest control from their drivers or riders. 
The mules especially seemed perfectly frantic with terror. 
They plunged, kicked, and jumped, and in the mean time 
the hailstones rapidly increased in size, and added a corre- 
sponding re-enforcement to the momentum of their blows. 
The mules brayed with agony and fright; they threw off 



258 A HAIL-STORM. 

their riders, overturned many of the wagons, and produced 
a universal stampede among the entire command. 

My own mule, which I was riding at the time, was no 
more quiet or reconciled to the existing condition of things 
than the others. She made several very desperate efforts 
at lofty vaulting when she felt the first hailstones, and came 
very near unseating me, but I managed to quiet her suffi- 
ciently to dismount, and attempted to hold her from run- 
ning away. I soon found, however, that the hail was giv- 
ing rae some very severe raps upon my face and hands, and 
that it was necessary for me to seek some protection. I ac- 
cordingly, with great difficulty, took off my saddle while 
the mule was plunging and kicking vigorously, and let her 
go, then squatted down upon the ground and covered my 
head with the saddle, which guarded it against the frozen 
missiles. My hands, however, projected over the edges of 
the saddle, and received several hard knocks that took off 
the skin. 

After the animals broke loose, they soon discovered that 
they did not escape the hail by running, and they all of 
their own accord stopped, turned their tails to windward, 
and remained perfectly quiet in that position until the storm 
ceased. 

In Western and Southern Texas, during the autumn and 
winter months, storms arise suddenly, and are generally ac- 
companied by a north wind, which is very severe upon 
men and animals ; and although the mercury seldom indi- 
cates the freezing point, yet these storms are sometimes so 
terrific as to compel travelers to hasten to the nearest shel- 
tered spot to save their lives, and I have known of several 
instances where men and animals have perished in these 
^' Northers,''^ as they are called. During the winter season 
the climate here is generally as mild and genial as the May 
atmosphere in New York ; but when a Norther appears, 



A FLOOD. 259 

the temperature often undergoes a sudden depression of 
many degrees in a few minutes, the perspiration is checked, 
and the system receives a shock, against which it requires 
great vital energy to bear up. Men and animals are not 
in this latitude prepared for these capricious atmospheric 
changes, and, as I said before, they often perish under their 
effects. 

While passing near the head waters of the Colorado of 
Texas in the autumn of IS'IQ, I left one of my camps at 
daylight in the morning, with a mild and soft atmosphere, 
tempered with a gentle breeze from the south, but had trav- 
eled only a short distance when the wind suddenly whipped 
around into the north, bringing with it a furious chilling 
rain, and in a few minutes the ground became so soft and 
heavy as to make the labor of pulling the wagons over it 
very exhausting upon our mules. When we went into 
camp the animals were in a profuse sweat, and the rain was 
pouring down in torrents upon them. It continued to 
rain incessantly, as hard as I ever saw it in a violent thun- 
der-shower, for upward of thirty consecutive hours, and it 
seemed as if the heavens were pouring out upon us a sec- 
ond deluge. 

A ravine, near us, which was dry when we encamped, 
was, on the following morning, a rapid stream of sufficient 
magnitude to float an ocean steam-ship, and the ground was 
every where covered with water. 

We had great difficulty, on our first arrival in camp, in 
making a fire ; for, as soon as it was started a little, the rain 
would put it out, like dashing a bucket of water upon it, 
and we were obliged finally to hold blankets over it until 
the wood was thoroughly kindled. 

Our mules were unharnessed as soon as we reached the 
camping-ground and turned out to graze, but, instead of 
feeding as usual, they turned their heads from the wind, 



260 LOSS OF MULES. 

and remained in that position, chilled and trembling, with- 
out making. the least effort to move; and on the following 
morning, thirty-five out of our herd of one hundred and 
ten had perished, while those still alive could hardly be 
said to have any vitality left. They were drawn up with 
cold, and could with difficulty walk. 

We cut up our tents and wagon-covers to protect them 
from the storm, which still continued with unabated fury, 
and drove them about until a little vital energy was re- 
stored, after which they commenced eating grass and re- 
cuperated, but it was three days before they were sufficient- 
ly recovered to resume the march. 

I made a mistake in driving the mules after the "iVbr/A- 
e?'" commenced. Had I halted at once, and encamped be^ 
fore they became heated and wearied, they would probably 
have eaten the grass, and this, I have no doubt, would have 
fortified them against the effects of the storm ; but, as it 
was, their blood became heated from overwork, and the sud- 
den chill brought on a reaction which proved fatal. 

If an animal eats his forage plentifully, there is but little 
danger of his perishing with cold. 

"^ The loss of our animals obliged us to abandon several of 
our wagons, and every thing else we could possibly dis- 
pense with, before we were able to continue our journey. 

I subsequently learned that the Comanches appropriated 
this property, and used the iron in making arrow-points 
and lance-heads. 

With these observations in regard to the storms I have 
encountered in different latitudes, I will now invite the read- 
er to return with me to Squirrel Creek, where we left the 
command in the snow-storm. 

At the termination of this frightful tempest there was 
about three feet of snow upon the ground, but the warm 
rays of the sun soon melted it, and, after collecting together 



ORIGIN OF DENVER CITY. 263 

our stampeded animals, we again set forward for Utah, and 
on the third day following struck the South Platte at its 
confluence with Cherry Creek. 

We found the river at such a high stage, and so rapid, 
that we were compelled to encamp here for four days and 
construct a flat-boat, In which we crossed our entire party. 

There was at that time but one white man living within 
one hundred and fifty miles of the place, and he was an In- 
dian trader named Jack Audeby, upon the Arkansas. 

While our ferry-boat was being constructed, one of our 
citizen employes washed from the sands of Cherry Creek a 
small amount of gold-dust, which he showed to me. Soon 
afterward he was discharged and went to St. Louis, and in 
a short time the miners commenced flocking to the locality, 
and laid out a town which has continued to flourish ever 
since, and at this time contains several thousand inhabit- 
ants. It is called '■'■Denver CityJ'^ and I feel quite confident 
that the representations made by our discharged teamster 
in St. Louis and other places were the origin of the loca- 
tion and establishment of a new city and Territory. 

As we anticipated finding the North Platte Eiver (some 
two hundred miles in advance) above a fording stage, we 
determined to haul our flat-boat to that point. According- 
ly, we mounted it upon a stout wagon drawn by a team of 
twenty mules, and transported it the entire distance. We 
did not use it, however, as the river was fordable. We left 
the boat there, and it was often used by travelers afterward, 
and I believe it still remains at the same place. 

Nothing worthy of special mention occurred to us after 
this, and we reached Fort Bridger with our supplies on the 
9th day of June. 

Soon after our arrival at Fort Bridger, General Johnston 
marched his command into Salt Lake Valley, and we en- 
camped in a "church pasture" on the other side of Jor- 



26 i SALT LAKE CITY. 

dan, opposite to and about a mile distant from Salt Lake 
City. 

We marched through the city with colors flying and 
bands playing, but, to our astonishment, we only saw here 
and there a very few persons. The city seemed to have 
been deserted, and those that we did see were apparently so 
busily occupied that they never even condescended to look 
toward our sacrilegious cavalcade of Gentiles. This was the 
first body of troops of any magnitude that had ever made 
its appearance in this remote part of the universe ; yet one 
would have thought, from the perfect indifference with 
which our advent was looked upon by the Saints, that the 
event was of every-day occurrence. 

While in the Territory, I visited that vast natural deposit 
of chloride of sodium, Salt Lake, and with several friends 
tried the experiment of bathing in it. We waded out from 
the shore until the water reached our arm-pits, when our 
feet were raised from the bottom and we remained suspend- 
ed. The specific gravity of the water is so great that we 
were enabled to float upon the surface without moving hand 
or foot. We folded our arms and sat up in the lake, only 
sinking to near the arms, and we floated about like corks. 
The sensation was most novel and peculiar. 

The fact is, that the entire volume of the lake is a satura- 
ted solution of salt, the water being charged to its maximum 
capacity, and we were told that four buckets of the water 
made, when evaporated, one fourth the volume of pure salt. 

The wind was blowing quite fresh while we were in the 
lake, and the spray fell upon our heads and in our eyes, 
causing most acute pain. In a very few minutes after we 
came out of the water our bodies were incrusted with an 
armor of salt, and our hair was also frosted over with it, 
giving us the appearance of very great longevity. We felt 
exceedingly uncomfortable in this saline covering, and were 



SALT LAKE. 265 

puzzled as to how we should dispose of it, until some one 
suggested that we should go to a fresh-water spring near by, 
and dissolve the salt, which we did. We did not see a fish 
or any other living animal or reptile in the lake, and I doubt 
if animal life could be sustained there. 

As is very generally known, this vast body of water 
(something like eighty by thirty miles in extent) receives 
several quite large fresh-water streams, but has no visible 
outlet. 

Ever since it was first discovered it has been constantly 
contracting, and the water receding from the shores. The 
water of the Salt Lake has a greater specific gravity, and a 
greater amount of solid matter than any other known, with 
the exception of that of the Dead Sea. 

One hundred parts of the water by weight were found 
to contain, after evaporation, 22.422 of solid matter, in which 
were the following constituents : 

Chloride of Sodium 20.196 

Sulphate of Soda 1.834 

Chloride of Magnesium 0.252 

22.282, 
with a trace of Chloride of Calcium. 

The analysis of the Salt Lake waters, as given by Colonel 
Fremont, for 100 parts of solid matter, is as follows : 

Chloride of Sodium 97.80 

" " Calcium 0.61 

" " Magnesium 0.24 

Sulphate of Soda 0.23 

" " Lime 1.12 

100.00 

One hundred parts in weight of the Dead Sea water gave 
24.580 of solid contents, or 2.298 more than the water of 
Salt Lake. 

The following analysis of the Dead Sea water at different 

dates and by different chemists, shows some very different 

constituents from those in Salt Lake. 

Z 



266 



MORMON INDUSTRY. 





Dr. Marget. 
1807. 


Gay-Lussao. 

1S18. 


Dr. Ap.)oun. 
1S39. 


Chloride of Calcium 


3.920 
10.246 
10.360 

0.054 

75.420 


3.980 

15.310 

6.950 

73.760 


2.438 
7.370 
7.839 
0.005 
0.852 
0.201 
0.075 
81.220 


' ' ]\Iagnesiuni 


" Sodium 


" Manganese 


" Potassium 


Bromide of Maenesium 


Snlnhate of Zinc 


Water 





The specific gravity of the Dead Sea water, as given by 
the above-named authorities, is as follows. The water was 
taken at the boiling point, and contrasted with the pure 
water at 1000. 

Dr. Marcet, 1211. Gay-Lussac, 1228. Dr. Apjohn, 1153. 
Specific gravity of Salt Lake Water 1.170 

Stanley, in his work on Sinai and Palestine, gives the 
level of the Dead Sea as 1300 feet below that of the Medi- 
terranean, while the level of Salt Lake is 4200 feet above 
the ocean. Both of these peculiar lakes receive fresh-water 
Jordans, and have no outlets. 

The Mormons are a very industrious people, and no one 
is allowed to remain idle in their community. Their prin- 
cipal occupation is farming, which they pursue with unre-- 
mitting patience and perseverance. 

The cultivation of the soil in this valley is attended with 
a vast amount of labor, as the soil produces nothing with- 
out artificial irrigation, and this involves the necessity of 
excavating canals for long distances to bring the water 
from the mountain streams, after which it is distributed 
over the fields in small ditches. 

The construction, repairs, and tending of these numerous 
water communications requires so much extra labor that 
one man can cultivate only about four acres of ground, or 
not much more than one tenth the amount that he could 
in the Eastern States, where no irrigation is required. 

In view of these facts, it struck me that no other people 



A PROCLAMATION. 267 

but the Mormons or Mexicans would ever think of becom- 
ing farmers in Utah, when there is so much vacant, uncul- 
tivated domain east of the mountains, where the rains from 
heaven irrigate and fertilize the soil. 

Before we reached Utah we heard many rumors con- 
cerning the unfriendly disposition of the Mormons toward 
the United States government, and their determination to 
resist by force, if necessary, our entrance into Salt Lake 
Valley, but we did not give much credence to these reports 
until we received the following proclamation of Brigham 
Young: 

^^Proclamation hy the Governor. 

" Citizens of Utah, — We are invaded by a hostile force, 
who are evidently assailing us to accomplish our over- 
throw and destruction. 

" For the last twenty-five years we have trusted officials 
of the government, from constables and justices to judges, 
governors, and presidents, only to be scorned, held in de- 
rision, insulted, and betrayed. Our houses have been plun- 
dered and then burned, our fields laid waste, our principal 
men butchered while under the pledged faith of the gov- 
ernment for their safety, and our families driven from their 
homes to find that shelter in the barren wilderness, and that 
protection among hostile savages which were denied them 
in the boasted abodes of Christianity and civilization. 

" The Constitution of our common country guarantees to 
us all that we do now, or have ever claimed. 

"If the constitutional rights which pertain unto us as 
American citizens were extended to Utah according to the 
spirit and meaning thereof, and fairly and impartially ad- 
ministered, it is all that we could ask, all that we ever asked. 

"Our opponents have availed themselves of prejudice 
existing against us because of our religious faith, to send 



268 THE PROCLAMATION. 

out a formidable host to accomplish our destruction. We 
have had no privilege, no opportunity of defending our- 
selves from the false, foul, and unjust aspersions against us 
before the nation. 

"The government has not condescended to cause an in- 
vestigati;ig committee, or other person, to be sent to inquire 
into and ascertain the truth, as is customary in such cases. 

" We know those aspersions to be false, but that avails 
us nothing. We are condemned unheard, and forced to 
an issue with an armed mercenary mob, which has been 
sent against us at the instigation of anonymous letter- writ- 
ers, ashamed to father the base, slanderous falsehoods which 
thej- have given to the public ; of corrupt officials, who 
have brought false accusations against us to screen them- 
selves in their own infamy, of hireling ^7'ZiS5^s and hoivling 
editors, who prostitute the truth for filthy lucre's sake. 

"The issue which has been thus forced upon us compels 
us to resort to the great first law of self-preservation, and 
stand in our own defense, a right guaranteed to us by the 
genius of the institutions of our country, and upon which 
the government is based. ■ 

" Our duty to ourselves, to our families, requires us not 
tamely to be driven and slain, without an attempt to pre- 
serve ourselves. Our duty to our country, our holy relig- 
ion, our God, to freedom and liberty, requires that we 
should not quietly stand still and see those fetters forging 
around which are calculated to enslave and bring us in 
subjection to an unlawful military despotism, such as can 
only emanate (in a country of constitutional law) from 
usurpation, tyranny, and oppression. 

" Therefore, I, Brigham Young, Governor and Superin- 
tendent of Indian Affairs for the Territory of Utah, in the 
name of the people of the United States in the Territory 
of Utah, 



A MORMON LETTER. 269 

"1st. Forbid all armed forces of every description from 
coming into this Territory, under any pretense -whatever. 

"2d. That all the forces in said Territory hold them- 
selves in readiness to march at a moment's notice to repel 
any and all such invasion. 

" 3d. Martial law is hereby declared to exist in this Ter- 
ritory from and after the publication of this proclamation, 
and no person shall be allowed to pass or repass into or 
through, or from the Territory, without a permit from the 
proper officers. 

"Given under my hand and seal at Great Salt Lake City, 
Territory of Utah, this 15th day of September, A.D. 1857, 
and of the Independence of the United States of America 
the 82d. 

(Signed) " Brigham Young." 

With this proclamation came, by express from Salt Lake 
City, the following : 

" Governor's Office, Utah Territory, ) 
Great Salt Lake City, Sept. 29, 1857.) 
"To the officer commanding the forces now invading Utah Territory: 

" Sir, — By reference to the Act of Congress passed Sep- 
tember 9, 1850, organizing the Territory of Utah, publish- 
ed in a copy of the Laws of Utah, herewith forwarded, p. 
146-7, you will find the following: 'Section 2. And he it 
further enacted^ That the executive power and authority 
in and over said Territory of Utah shall be vested in a gov- 
ernor, who shall hold his office for four years, and until his 
successor shall be appointed and qualified^ unless sooner re- 
moved by the President of the United States. The gov- 
ernor shall reside within said Territory, shall be command- 
er-in-chief of the militia thereof,' etc. 

" I am still the Governor and Superintendent of Indian 
Affairs for this Territory, no successor having been appoint- 



270 A COOL PKOPOSITION. 

ed and qualified, as provided bj law, nor have I been re- 
moved by the President of the United States. By virtue 
of the authority thus vested in me, I have issued and for- 
warded you a copy of my proclamation forbidding the en- 
trance of armed forces into this Territory. This you have 
disregarded" (great presumption, this !). "I now farther di- 
rect that you retire forthwith from the Territory, by the 
same route you entered. Should you deem this impracti- 
cable, and prefer to remain until spring in the vicinity of 
your present position at Black's Fork or Green River, you 
can do so in peace and unmolested, on condition" — (now 
comes the cream of the joke) — "that you deposit your arms 
and ammunition with Lewis Robinson, Quarter-master-gen- 
eral of the Territory, and leave in the spring as soon as the 
condition of the roads will permit you to march. And 
should you fall short of provisions, they can be furnished 
you upon making the proper applications therefor. 

" General D. H. Wells will forward this, and receive any 
communication you may have to make. 
" Very respectfully, etc., 
(Signed) " Brigham Young, Governor, etc." 

Shortly after this the Mormons burned two of our supply 
trains, containing a large amount of stores for the use of the 
troops during the winter. They drove off our cattle, and 
committed other acts of hostility toward us. 

On the 16th of October I caught some Mormons carrying 
supplies to the parties that were committing depredations 
upon us, and upon the person of one of them (a major) I 
found several papers, one of which was as follows : 

"Head-quarters Eastern Expedition, 1 
Camp near Casheeove, Oct. 4, 1857. ) 

"Major Joseph Taylor, — You will proceed with all 
possible dispatch, without injuring your animals, to the Or- 



GENERAL WELLS'S ORDERS. 271 

. egon Eoad, near the head of Bear Eiver, north bj east of 
this place. Take close and correct observations of the 
country on your route. When you approach the road, 
send scouts ahead to ascertain if the invading troops have 
passed, that way. Should they have passed, take a con- 
cealed route and get ahead of them. Express to Colonel 
Burton, who is now on that road and in the vicinity of the 
troops, and effect a junction with him, so as to operate in 
concert. 

" On ascertaining the locality or route of the troops, pro- 
ceed at once to annoy them in every possible way. Use 
every exertion to stampede their animals, and set fire to 
their trains. Burn the whole country before them and on 
their flanks. Keep them from sleeping by night surprises. 
Blockade the road by felling trees, or destroying the fords 
when you can. Watch for opportunities to set fire to the 
grass on their windward, so as, if possible, to envelop their 
trains. Leave no grass before them that can be burned. 
Keep your men concealed as much as possible, and guard 
against surprise. Keep scouts out at all times, and commu- 
nication open with Colonel Burton, Major McAllister, and 
O. P. Rockwell, who are operating in the same way. Keep 
me advised daily of your movements, and every step the 
troops take, and in which direction. 

" God bless you and give you success. 
" Your brother in Christ, 
(Signed) " Daniel H. Wells. 

"P.S. — If the troops have not passed, or have turned in 
this direction, follow in their rear, and continue to annoy 
them, and stampede or drive off their animals at every op- 
portunity. ^ D. H. Wells." 

Brigham Young, in an interview with Captain Van Vliet, 
of the Army, who was sent to Salt Lake City to confer 



272 BRIGHAM YOUNG'S VIEWg. 

witli the Mormon authorities, complained that our govern- 
ment officials had taken for truth ex parte statements, made 
against them by men of notoriously immoral characters, 
who had become prejudiced against them without cause, 
and, without giving them any opportunity to defend them- 
selves, had made premature decisions adverse to his people. 

He thought it due to him and his followers, especially 
while he regarded himself as ex officio the chief magistrate 
of the Territory, to have given him a hearing. Instead of 
this, he said, the government had instituted proceedings of 
a most unusual and rigorous character, sending out a very 
large armed force, with a menacing aspect, to coerce them 
into subjection to laws which they had always respected 
and obeyed. He added, "I can, with my people, keep out 
the forces now approaching us, and I shall most positively 
do so. No United States soldier shall enter this valley. 
And if they attempt to pass Fort Bridger, I shall first have 
all the grass between that point and this city burned up. 
If that does not stop them, I shall then make use of all the 
means within my control to resist by force, if necessary, 
their approach." , 

Captain Yan Vliet said to him that he might possibly 
succeed in keeping out during the winter the troops now 
en route, but that he must be aware that this step would be 
looked upon by our government as an insult of no ordi- 
nary character, and that a sufficient number of troops to 
chastise them would certainly be sent out in the spring. 

He replied, "I am conscious of that; but I have four 
years' supply of provisions on hand ; and before we will 
submit to a military rule, we will burn and destroy every 
house, fence, tree, and other vestige of improvement in this 
valley, and retreat to the mountains, where we can live un- 
molested in the enjoyment of our religion." 

He was then asked how he would receive Governor 



A MORMON WRITER. 273 

Cammings on his arrival. He replied, " I would very qui- 
etly place him in a carriage, and politely escort him out of 
the Valley." 

The foregoing proclamation, and orders subsequently is- 
sued, show conclusively that Brigham was sincere in what 
he said to Captain Van Vliet. 

The Mormon leaders were all intensely exercised upon 
the subject of our approach, and gave vent to their feelings 
in the pulpit and in their papers. 

In an article which I saw in the Deseret News, the writer 
very ably and ingeniously set forth the grievances of the 
Saints from the time of Joe Smith up to that moment. His 
arguments were, however, somewhat specious and sophisti- 
cal, and not in all respects sustained by fact ; as, for exam- 
ple, he said that the United States had not sent armed 
forces into other Territories to assist the Federal authorities 
in the execution of law, when he must have known that 
troops had repeatedly been employed in similar service, 
and that a portion of the very force designed for Utah was 
at that moment detained in Kansas for precisely the same 
object. He also said that the people of other Territories had 
always been allowed to elect their own rulers, when it was 
known to every body that the people of the Territories gen- 
erally have nothing to do with the appointment of Territo- 
rial officers ; that, on the contrary, these officers are in al- 
most all cases selected from other places, and sent to the 
Territories. Utah, in that regard, had been more favored 
than any other Territory, as their prophet and ruler had 
been permitted to occupy the governor's seat a longer pe- 
riod than usual. 

In one of the numbers of the Deseret News were several 
speeches made by the leaders, all of which breathed forth 
sentiments teeming with war to the knife. Brigham said 
"he had alwaj^s prophesied that there was a time coming 



274 PULPIT ORATORY. 

when the cord that bound the Saints to the world must be 
severed, and when a military force was sent to Utah to 
kill him and his people, then would be the time to cut it." 

The following racy specimen of pulpit oratory, although 
not very chaste or classic in its character, emanated from 
the fulminating and explosive brain of that '■^father in Is- 
rael^^'' Brother Heber Kimball, about that time. It was in 
the form of a benediction to his flock. 

"May the Almighty bless you; may the peace of God 
be with you, and with your children, and with your chil- 
dren's children forever and ever ; and may God Almighty 
curse our enemies (voices, ' Amen I'). I feel to curse my 
enemies ; and when God won't bless them, I do not think 
he will ask me to bless them. If I did, it would be to put » 
the poor curses to death who have brought death and de- 
struction on me and my brethren, upon my wives and chil- 
dren that I buried on the road between the States and this 
place. 

" Did I ever wrong them out of a dime ? No ; but I 
have fed thousands when I never received a dime. Poor 
rotten curses ! and the President of the United States, in- 
asmuch as he has turned, against us, and will take a course 
to persist in pleasing the ungodly curses that are howling 
around him for the destruction of this people, he shall be 
cursed in the name of Israel's God ; and I curse him, and 
all his coadjutors in their cursed deeds, in the name of 
Jesus Christ, and by the authority of the holy priesthood, 
and all Israel shall say 'Amen 1' 

" Send two thousand five hundred troops here, my breth- 
ren, to make a desolation of this people ! God Almighty 
helping me, I will fight until there is not a drop of blood in 
my veins. Good God 1 I have wives enough to whip out 
the United States ! Amen." 

In speaking of the approach of the army upon another 



MANNA FOR MORMONS. 275 

occasion, we have the following Biblical illustration from 
the same orator. " Will we have manna ? Yes, the United 
States have seven hundred wagons loaded with about two 
tons to each wagon, with all kinds of things , and then 
seven thousand head of cattle ; and there is said to be two 
thousand five hundred troops with this, and that, and the 
other. 

" That is all right. Suppose the troops don't get here, 
but all these goods and cattle come ? well, that would be a 
mighty help to us ; that would clothe up the boys and girls, 
and make them comfortable ; and then remember there is 
fifteen months' provisions besides. I am only talking about 
this. Suppose it extends four or five years, and they send 
one hundred thousand troops and provisions, and goods in 
proportion, and every thing else got here and they did not, 
etc., etc." 

The sequel of the Mormon expedition is well known to 
the public. 



276 UNEXPLORED TERRITORY. 



CHAPTER X. 

UNEXPLORED TERRITORY. 

Unexplored Territory. — Lack of geographical Information in 1849. — Wagon 
Road from Fort Smith. — New Road from Dona Ana. — Great Cnnon of 
the Colorado. — Visit of the Spaniards. — Mr. Kern's Opinions. — Tall Race 
of Men. — Height of the Canon. — Attempts to explore it. — Splendid Scen- 
ery. — Mineral Considerations. — Method for exploring the Canon sug- 
gested. 

Previous to our occupation of the Territory of New 
Mexico in 1846, but little was known concerning the phys- 
ical features of the greater part of that country, and almost 
the entire section of Northwestern New Mexico embraced 
between the Rio del Norte and the Rio Colorado of Califor- 
nia had been, up to that period, a " fe?T« incognita.'''' Indeed, 
as late as 1849, our authorities at Washington possessed so 
little information in regard to the country west of the Rio 
del Norte, that I was ordered to escort emigrants from Fort 
Smith, Arkansas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, under the sup- 
position that there were direct practicable wagon-roads from 
the latter point to San Francisco; but, on our arrival at 
Santa Fe, we learned, from the most experienced guides of 
the country, that the most direct known wagon-route to the 
Pacific coast left the Rio del Norte some three hundred 
miles below Santa Fe, thus making a deflectio~n of a right 
angle from the course which we had traveled. We had 
discovered and rendered passable an excellent wagon-road 
from the point of our departure in Arkansas to Santa Fe, 
according to our instructions, but the information regarding 
the country west of Santa Fe showed conclusively that our 



UNEXPLORED REGIONS. 277 

road, in connection with that down the Gila, deviated so 
much from a direct track across the continent, that it would 
not subserve the purposes of subsequent emigration. I 
therefore made inquiries from all persons I could meet with 
who knew any thing about the country east of the Del 
Norte in regard to the practicability of making a wagon- 
road directly back from the point on that river where the 
emigrants turned west toward the Gila to Fort Smith. The 
greater part of the guides of the country informed me that 
there were several ranges of mountains intervening, and 
were of the opinion that I would have difficulty in finding 
a passage through them. I, however, heard of a Comanche 
Indian, living among the Mexicans, who was reported to be 
familiar with the section over which I desired to pass, and 
I consulted him. He said he knew the country as far east 
as the head waters of the Brazos, and that he could guide 
me over a route that was entirely safe for wagons from 
Dona Ana to that stream, and he would insure us water 
every night. Our own guide. Black Beaver, was confident 
he could pilot us from the Brazos to Fort Smith ; accord- 
ingly, we returned over that route directly across the coun- 
try indicated, making a most excellent road, which was 
traveled for several years afterward by California emi- 
grants. 

Since that time several exploring parties have traversed 
partions of northwestern New Mexico, and the information 
gained by our officers who have campaigned against the 
Indians in that section has added greatly to our stock of 
geographical knowledge ; but it presents such an exceeding- 
ly barren, rough, and forbidding aspect, and has been so 
difficult of access on account of the hostility of the Indians, 
that but few white men have ventured into it, so that some 
portions still remain unexplored. There is, for example, a 

section of some two hundred miles or more of the Colorado 

2A 



278 THE COLORADO CANON. 

Eiver that has never, so far as we have any record, been 
traversed by a white man, and that I believe to be at the 
present moment about the only part of our vast possessions 
of which we have not some knowledge. 

I refer to that portion of the Colorado extending from 
near the confluence of Grand and Green Rivers, which is 
known as the " Big Canon of the Colorado." This canon 
is without doubt one of the most stupendous freaks of Na- 
ture that can be found upon the face of the earth. It ap- 
pears that by some great paroxysmal convulsive thi'oe in 
the mysterious economy of the wise laws of Nature, an ele- 
vated chain of mountains has been reft asunder, as if to ad- 
mit a passage for the river along the level of the grade at 
the base. The walls of this majestic defile, so far as they 
have been seen, are nearly perpendicular ; and although we 
have no exact data upon which to base a positive calcula- 
tion of their altitude, yet our information is amply suffi- 
cient to warrant the assertion that it far exceeds any thing 
of the kind elsewhere known. 

The first published account of this remarkable defile was 
contained in the work of Castenada, giving a description of 
the expedition of Don Francisco Vasquez de Coronado in 
search of the " seven cities of Cibola" in 15-iO-l. 

He went from the city of Mexico to Sonora, and from 
thence penetrated to Cibola; and while there, dispatched 
an auxiliary expedition, under the command of Don Garcia 
Lopez de Cardenas, to explore a river which emptied into 
the Gulf of California, called ^^ Rio del Tisoji,''^ and which, 
of course, was the Hio Colorado. 

On reaching the vicinity of the river, he found a race of 
natives of very great stature, who lived in subterranean 
tenements covered with straw or grass. He says, when 
these Indians traveled in cold weather, they carried in their 
hands a firebrand, with which they kept themselves warm. 



THE COLORADO CANOIST. ' 279 

Captain Sitgreaves, who in 1852 met the Mohave In- 
dians on the Colorado River, says "they are over six feet 
tall ;" and Mr, R. H. Kern, a very intelligent and reliable 
gentleman, who was attached to the same expedition, and 
visited the lower part of the great canon of the Colorado, 
says, " The same manners and customs (as those described 
by Castenada) are peculiar to all the different tribes inhab- 
iting the valley of the Colorado, even to the use of the 
brand for warming the body. These Indians, as a mass, 
are the largest and best-formed men I ever saw, their aver- 
age height being an inch over six feet." 

The Spanish explorer says he traveled for several days 
along on the crest of the lofty bluff bordering the canon, 
which he estimated to be three leagues high, and he found 
no place where he could pass down to the water from the 
summit. He once made the attempt at a place where but 
few obstacles seemed to interfere with the descent, and 
started three of his most active men. They were gone the 
greater part of the day, and on their return informed him 
that they had only succeeded in reaching a rock about one 
third the distance down. This rock, he says, appeared from 
the top of the canon about six feet high, but they informed 
him that it was as high as the spire of the cathedral at Se- 
ville in Spain. 

The river itself looked, from the summit of the canon, to 
be something like a fathom in width, but the Indians as- 
sured him it was half a league wide. 

Antoine Lereux, one of the most reliable and best-in- 
formed guides in New Mexico, told me in 1858 that he had 
once been at a point of this canon where he estimated the 
walTs to be three miles high. 

Mr. Kern says, in speaking of the Colorado : " No other 
river in North America passes through a canon equal in 
depth to the one alluded to. The description (Castenada's) 



280 LIEUTENANT IVES'S EXPEDITION. 

is made out with rare truth and force. We had a view of 
it from the San Francisco Mountain, N. M., and, judging 
from our own elevation, and the character of the interven- 
ing country, I have no doubt the walls are at least five 
thousand feet in height." 

The mountaineers in Utah told me that a party of trap- 
pers many years since built a large row-boat and made 
the attempt to descend the river through the defile of the 
canon, but were never heard from afterward. They prob- 
ably dashed their boat in pieces, and were lost by being 
precipitated over sunken rocks or elevated falls. 

In 185- Lieutenant Ives, of the United States' Engineers, 
was ordered to penetrate the canon with a steamer of light 
draught. He ascended the river from the Gulf as high as 
a little above the mouth of the gorge, but there encountered 
rapids and other obstacles of so serious a character that he 
was forced to turn back and abandon the enterprise, and 
no other efforts have since been made under government 
auspices to explore it. 

A thorough examination of this canon might, in my 
opinion, be made by taking small row-boats and ascending 
the river from the debouche of the gorge at a low stage of 
water. In this way there would be no danger of being car- 
ried over dangerous rapids or falls, and the boats could be 
carried around difficult passages. Such an exploration 
could not, in my judgment, prove otherwise than intensely 
interesting, as the scenery here must surpass in grandeur 
any other in the universe. 

Wherever we find rivers flowing through similar forma- 
tions elsewhere, as at the ^'■dalles''' of the Columbia and Wis- 
consin Eivers, and in the great cafions of Eed and Canadian 
Eivers, although the escarpments at those places have noth- 
ing like the altitude of those upon the Colorado, yet the 
long-continued erosive action of the water upon the rock 



GOLD AND SILVER. 281 

has produced the most novel and interesting combinations 
of beautiful pictures. Imagine, then, what must be the ef- 
fect of a large stream like the Colorado traversing for two 
hundred miles a defile with the perpendicular walls tower- 
ing five thousand feet above the bed of the river. It is im- 
possible that it should not contribute largely toward the 
formation of scenery surpassing in sublimity and pictur- 
esque character any other in the world. ' Our landscape 
painters would here find rare subjects for their study, and 
I venture to hope that the day is not far distant when some 
of the most enterprising of them may be induced to pene- 
trate this new field of art in our only remaining unexplored 
territory. I am confident they would be abundantly re- 
warded for their trouble and exposure, and would find 
subjects for the exercise of genius, the sublimity of which 
the most vivid imaginations of the old masters never 
dreamed of. 

A consideration, however, of vastly greater financial and 
national importance than those alluded to above, which 
might, and probably would result from a thorough explo- 
ration of this part of the river, is the development of its 
mineral wealth. 

In 18-19 I met in Santa Fe that enterprising pioneer, Mr. 
F. X. Aubrey, who had just returned from California, and 
en route had crossed the Colorado near the outlet of the Big 
Ganon^ where he met some Indians, with whom, as he in- 
formed me, he exchanged leaden for golden rifle-balls, and 
these Indians did not appear to have the slightest apprecia- 
tion of the relative value of the two metals. 

That gold and silver abound in that region is fully estab- 
lished, as those metals have been found in many localities 
both east and west of the Colorado. Is it not, therefore, 
probable that the walls of this gigantic crevice will exhibit 

many rich deposits? Companies are formed almost daily, 

2 A* 



282 EL BOKADO. 

and large amounts of money and labor expended in sink- 
ing shafts of one, two, and three hundred feet, with the con- 
ficknt expectation of finding mineral deposits ; but here Na- 
ture has opened and exposed to view a continuous shaft 
two hundred miles in length and five thousand feet in 
depth. In the one case we have a small shaft blasted out 
at great expense by manual labor, showing a surface of 
about thirty -six hundred feet, while here Nature gratuitous- 
ly exhibits ten thousand millions of feet extending into the 
very bowels of the earth. 

Is it, then, at all without the scope of rational conjecture 
to predict that such an immense development of the interi- 
or strata of the earth — such a huge gulch, if I may be al- 
lowed the expression, extending so great a distance through 
the heart of a country as rich as this in the precious met- 
als, may yet prove to be the El Dorado which the early 
Spanish explorers so long and so fruitlessly sought for; and 
who knows but that the government might here find a 
source of revenue sufficient to liquidate our national debt? 

Eegarding the exploration of this river as highly import- 
ant in a national aspect, I in 1853 submitted a paper ujDon 
the subject to the War Department, setting forth my views 
somewhat in detail, and offering my services to perform the 
work ; but there was then no appropriation which could be 
applied to that object, and the Secretary of War for this 
reason declined ordering it. 



HUNTING. ■ 283 



CHAPTER XI. 

HUNTING. 

Hunting. — Its Benefits to the Soldier. — Disposition of Fire-arms. — Nama- 
quas. — Tracking. — Horse Tracks. — Elk Hunt. — Faculties of Indians. 
— Deer Hunting. — Kifles. — Antelope. — Bear. — Lassoing Grizzlies. — Am- 
ateur Sportsman. — Big- Horn. — Buffalo. — Rapidly diminishing. — H. H. 
Sibley's Remarks. — Range of the Buffalo. — Chasing on Horseback. — 
Stalking. — Winter Hunting. — The Beaver. — The Prairie Dog. — Hints to 
Sportsmen. 

I KNOW of no better school of practice for perfecting men 
in target-firing, and the use of fire-arms generally, than that 
in which the frontier hunter receives his education. One 
of the first and most important lessons that he is taught im- 
presses him with the conviction that, unless. his gun is in 
good order and steadily directed upon the game, he must 
go without his supper ; and if ambition does not stimulate 
his efforts, his appetite will, and ultimately lead to success 
and confidence in his own powers. 

The man who is afraid to place the butt of his piece 
firmly against his shoulder, or who turns away his head at 
the instant of pulling trigger (as soldiers often do before 
they have been drilled at target-practice), will not be Jikely 
to bag much game or to contribute materially toward the 
result of a battle. The successful hunter, as a general rule, 
is. a good shot, will always charge his gun properly, and 
may be relied upon in action. I would, therefore, when in 
garrison or at permanent camps, encourage ofiicers and sol- 
diers in field-sports. If permitted, men very readily culti- 
vate a fondness for these innocent and healthy exercises, 



284 HUNTERS AND SOLDIERS. 

and occupy their leisure time in their pursuit ; whereas, if 
confined to the narrow limits of a frontier camp or garrison, 
having no amusements within their reach, they are prone 
to indulge in practices which are highly detrimental to 
their physical and moral condition. 

By making short excursions about the country they ac- 
quire a knowledge of it, become inured to fatigue, learn the 
art of bivouacking, trailing, etc., etc., all of which will be 
found serviceable in border warfare ; and, even if they 
should perchance now and then miss some of the minor 
routine duties of the garrison, the benefits they would de- 
rive from hunting would, in my opinion, more than coun- 
terbalance its effects. Under the old regime it was thought 
that drills, dress-parades, and guard-mountings comprehend- 
ed the sum total of the soldier's education, but the experi- 
ence of the last ten years has taught us that these are only 
the rudiments, and that to combat successfully with Indians 
we must receive instruction from them, study their tactics, 
and, where they suit our purposes, copy from them. 

The union of discipline with the individuality, self-reli- 
ance, and rapidity of locomotion of the savage is what we 
should aim at. This will be the tendency of the course in- 
dicated, and it is believed by the writer that an army com- 
posed of well-disciplined hunters will be the most efficient 
of all others against the only enemy we now have to en- 
counter within the limits of our vast possessions. 

I find some pertinent remarks upon this subject in a 
very sensible essay by " a late captain of infantry" (U. S.). 
He says : 

"It is conceived that scattered bands of mounted hunt- 
ers, with the speed of a horse and the watchfulness of a 
wolf or antelope, whose faculties are sharpened by their ne- 
cessities ; who, when they get short of provisions, separate 
and look for something to eat, and find it in the water, in 



HUNTING TO BE ENCOURAGED. 285 

the ground, or on the surface ; whose bill of fare ranges 
from grass-seed, nuts, roots, grasshoppers, lizards, and rat- 
tlesnakes up to the antelope, deer, elk, bear, and buffalo, 
and who have a continent to roam over, will be neither sur- 
prised, caught, conquered, overawed, or reduced to famine 
by a rumbling, bugle-blowing, drum-beating town passing 
through their country on wheels at the speed of a loaded 
wagon. 

" If the Indians are in the path and do not wish to be 
seen, they cross a ridge, and the town moves on, ignorant 
whether there are fifty Indians within a mile or no Indian 
within fifty miles. If the Indians wish to see, they return 
to the crest of the ridge, crawl up to the edge, pull up a 
bunch of grass by the roots, and look through or under it 
at the procession." 

Although I would always encourage men in hunting 
when permanently located, yet, unless they are good woods- 
men, it is not safe to permit them to go out alone in march- 
ing through the Indian country, as, aside from the danger 
of encountering Indians, they would be liable to become 
bewildered and perhaps lost, and this might detain the en- 
tire party in searching for them. The better plan upon, a 
march is for three or four to go out together, accompanied 
by a good woodsman, who will be able with certainty to 
lead them back to camp. 

The little group could ascertain if Indians are about, and 
would be strong enough to act on the defensive against 
small parties of them ; and, while they are amusing them- 
selves, they may perform an important part as scouts and 
flankers. 

An expedition may have been perfectly organized, and 
every thing provided that the wisest forethought could sug- 
gest, yet circumstances beyond the control of the most ex- 
perienced traveler may sometimes arise to defeat the best 



286 DISPOSITION OF ARMS. 

concerted jDlans, It is not, for example, an impossible con- 
tingency that the traveler may, by unforeseen delays, con- 
sume his provisions, lose them in crossing streams, or have 
them stolen by hostile Indians, and be reduced to the ne- 
cessity of depending upon game for subsistence. Under 
these circumstances, a few observations upon the habits of 
the different animals that frequent the Plains, and on the 
best methods of hunting t^em, may not be altogether de- 
void of interest or utility in this connection. 

Previous to describing the methods of hunting the differ- 
ent animals, I propose to give a few useful hints regarding 
lire-arms, and other items of information which will be 
found important to those who should have occasion to go 
out into the Plains. First I notice the disposition of fire- 
arms. 

The mountaineers and trappers exercise a very wise pre- 
caution, on lying down for the night, by placing their arms 
and ammunition by their sides, where they can be seized at 
a moment's notice. This rule is never departed from, and 
they are therefore seldom liable to be surprised. In Par- 
ky ns's " Abyssinia" I find the following remarks upon this 
subject: 

" When getting sleepy, you return your rifle between 
your legs, roll over, and go to sleep. Some people may 
think this is a queer place for a rifle ; but, on the contrary, 
it is the position of all others where utility and comfort are 
most combined. The butt rests on the arm, and serves as 
a pillow for the head ; the muzzle points between the knees, 
and the arms encircle the lock and breech, so that you have 
a smooth pillow, and are always prepared to start up armed 
at a moment's notice." 

I have never made the experiment of sleeping in this 
way, but I should imagine that a gun-stock would make 
rather a hard pillow. 



ARMY AND NAVY REVOLVERS. 287 

Many of our experienced frontier officers prefer carrying 
their pistols in a belt at their sides to placing them in hol- 
sters attached to the saddle, as in the former case they are 
always at hand when they are dismounted; whereas, by 
the other plan, they become useless when a man is un- 
horsed, unless he has time to remove them from the saddle, 
which, during the excitement of an action, would seldom be 
the case. 

Notwithstanding Colt's army and navy sized revolvers 
have been in use for a long time in our army, officers are 
by no means of one mind as to their relative merits for 
frontier service. The navy pistol, being more light and 
portable, is more convenient for the belt, but it is very 
questionable in my mind whether these qualities counter- 
balance the advantages derived from the greater weight of 
powder and lead that can be fired from the larger pistol, 
and the consequent increased projectile force. 

This point is illustrated by an incident which fell under 
ray own observation. In passing near the " Medicine-Bow 
Butte" during the spring of 1858, 1 most unexpectedly en- 
countered and fired at a full-grown grizzly bear; but, as 
my horse had become somewhat blown by a previous gal- 
lop, his breathing so much disturbed my aim that I missed 
the animal at the short distance of about fifty yards, and 
he ran off. Fearful, if I stopped to reload my rifle, the bear 
would make his escape, I resolved to drive him back to the 
advanced guard of our escort, which I could see approach- 
ing in the distance; this I succeeded in doing, when sever- 
al mounted men, armed with the navy revolvers, set off in 
pursuit. They approached within a few paces, and dis- 
charged ten or twelve shots, the most of which entered the 
animal, but he still kept on, and his progress did not seem 
materially impeded by the wounds. After these men had 
exhausted their charges, another man rode up armed with 



288 CARRYING FIRE-ARMS. 

the army revolver, and fired two shots, which brought the 
stalwart beast to the ground. Upon skinning him and 
making an examination of the wounds, it was discovered 
that none of the balls from the small pistols had, after pass- 
ing through his thick and tough hide, penetrated deeper 
than about an inch into the flesh, but that the two balls 
from the large pistol had gone into the vitals and killed 
him. This test was to my mind a decisive one as to the 
relative efiiciency of the two arms for frontier service, and 
I resolved thenceforth to carry the larger size. 

Several different methods are practiced in slinging and 
carrying fire-arms upon horseback. The shoulder-strap, 
with a swivel to hook into a ring behind the guard, with 
the muzzle resting downward in a leather cup attached by 
a strap to the same staple as the stirrup-leather, is a very 
handy method for cavalry soldiers to sling their carbines; 
but, the gun being reversed, the jolting caused by the mo- 
tion of the horse tends to move the charge and shake the 
powder out of the cone, which renders it liable to burst the 
gun and to miss fire. 

An invention of the Namaquas, in Africa, described by 
Galton in his Art of Travel, is as follows : 

" Sew a bag of canvas,' leather, or hide, of such bigness as 
to admit the butt of the gun pretty freely. The straps that 
support it buckle through a ring in the pommel, and the 
thongs by which its slope is adjusted fasten round the girth 
below. The exact adjustments may not be hit upon by an 
unpracticed person for some little time, but, when they are 
once ascertained, the straps need never be shifted. The gun 
is perfectly safe, and never comes below the arm-pit, even 
in taking a drop leap ; it is pulled out in an instant by bring- 
ing the elbow in front of the gun and close to the side, so 
as to throw the gun to the outside of the arm ; then, lower- 
ing the hand, the gun is caught up. It is a bungling way 



ACCIDENTS FROM FIRE-ARMS. 289 

to take out the gun while its barrel lies between the arm 
and the body. Any sized gun can be carried in this fash- 
ion. It offers no obstacle to mounting or dismounting." 

This may be a convenient way of carrying the gun ; I 
have never tried it. Of all methods I have used, I prefer, 
for hunting, a piece of leather about twelve inches by four, 
with a hole cut in each end; one of the ends is placed over 
the pommel of the saddle, and with a buckskin string made 
fast to it, where it remains a permanent fixture. When the 
rider is mounted, he places his gun across the strap upon 
the saddle, and carries the loose end forward over the pom- 
mel, the gun resting horizontally across his legs. It will 
now only be necessary occasionally to steady the gun with 
the hand. After a little practice the rider will be able to 
control it with his knees, and it will be found a very easy 
and convenient method of carrying it. When required for 
use, it is taken out in an instant by simply raising it with 
the hand, when the loose end of the strap comes off the 
pommel. 

The chief causes of accidents from the use of fire-arms 
arise from carelessness, and I have always observed that 
those persons who are most familiar with their use are in- 
variably the most careful. Many accidents have happened 
from carrying guns with the cock down upon the cap. 
When in this position, a blow upon the cock, and some- 
times the concussion produced by the falling of the gun, 
will explode the cap; and, occasionally, when the cock 
catches a twig, or in the clothes, and lifts it from the cap, it 
will explode. With a gun at half-cock there is but little 
danger of such accidents ; for, when the cock is drawn back, 
it either comes to the full-cock, and remains, or it returns 
to the half-cock, but does not go down upon the cone. An- 
other source of very many sad and fatal accidents resulting 
from the most stupid and culpable carelessness is in persons 

2B 



290 CAPTAIN SCOTT'S ADVICE. 

standing before the muzzles of guns and attempting to pull 
them out of wagons, or to draw them through a fence or 
brush in the same position. If the cock encounters an ob- 
stacle in its passage, it will, of course, be drawn back and 
fall upon the cap. These accidents are of frequent occur- 
rence, and the cause is well understood by all, yet men con- 
tinue to disregard it, and their lives pay the penalty of their 
indiscretion. It is a wise maxim, which applies with espe- 
cial force in campaigning on the prairies, ^^ Always look to 
your gun, hut never let your gun look at youP 

An equally important maxim might be added to this : 
Never to pomt your gun at another, whetlier charged or un- 
charged, and never alloiv another to point his gun at you. 
Young men, before they become accustomed to the use of 
arms, are very apt to be careless, and a large percentage of 
gun accidents may be traced to this cause. That finished 
sportsman and wonderful shot, my friend Captain Martin 
Scott, than whom a more gallant soldier never fought a 
battle, was the most careful man with fire-arms I ever 
knew, and up to the time he received his death -wound 
upon the bloody field of Molino del Eey he never ceased 
his cautionary advice to young officers upon this subject. 
His extended experience and intimate acquaintance with 
the use of arms had fully impressed him with its import- 
ance, and no man ever lived whose opinions upon this sub- 
ject should carry greater weight. As incomprehensible as 
it may appear to persons accustomed to the use of fire-arms, 
recruits are very prone, before they have been drilled at 
target practice with ball cartridges, to place the ball below 
the powder in the piece. Officers conducting detachments 
through the Indian country should therefore give their 
special attention to this, and require the recruits to tear the 
cartridge and pour all the powder into the piece before the 
ball is inserted. 



TRACKING. 291 

As accidents often occur in camp from the accidental 
discharge of fire-arms that have been capped, I would rec- 
ommend that the arms be continually kept loaded in cam- 
paigning, but the caps not placed upon the cones until they 
are required for firing. This will cause but little delay in 
an action, and will conduce much to security from accidents. 

When loaded fire-arms have been exposed for any con- 
siderable time to a moist atmosphere, they should be dis- 
charged, or the cartridges drawn, and the arms thoroughlj^ 
cleaned, dried, and oiled. Too much attention can not be 
given in keeping arms in perfect firing order. 

TRACKING. 

I know of nothing in the woodman's education of so 
much importance, or so difiicult to acquire, as the art of 
trailing or tracking men and animals. To become an adept 
in this art requires the constant practice of years, and with 
some men a life-time does not suffice to learn it. 

Almost all the Indians whom I have met with are profi- 
cient in this species of knowledge, the faculty for acquiring 
which appears to be innate with them. Exigencies of 
woodland and prairie life stimulate the savage from child- 
hood to develop faculties so important in the arts of war 
and of the chase. 

I have seen very few white men who were good trailers, 
and practice did not seem very materially to improve their 
faculties in this regard ; they have not the same acute per- 
ceptions for these things as the Indian or the Mexican. It 
is not apprehended that this difficult branch of woodcraft 
can be taught from books, as it pertains almost exclusively 
to the school of practice, yet I will give some facts relating 
to the habits of the Indians that will facilitate its acquire- 
ments. 

A party of Indians, for example, starting out upon a war 



292 FOLLOWING TRAILS. 

excursion, leave their families behind, and never transport 
their lodges ; whereas, when they move with their families, 
they carry their lodges and other effects. If, therefore, an 
Indian trail is discovered with the marks of the lodge-poles 
upon it, it has certainly not been made by a war-party; but 
if the track do not show the trace of lodge-poles, it will be 
equally certain that a war or shunting party has passed that 
way, and if it is not desired to come in conflict with them, 
their direction may be avoided. Mustangs or wild horses, 
when moving from place to place, leave a trail which is 
sometimes difl&cult to distinguish from that made by a 
mounted party of Indians, especially if the mustangs do 
not stop to graze. This may be determined by following 
upon the trail until some dung is found, and if this should 
lie in a single pile, it is a sure indication that a herd of 
mustangs has passed, as they always stop to relieve them- 
selves, while a party of Indians would keep their horses in 
motion, and the ordure would be scattered along the road. 
If the trail pass through woodland, the mustang will occa- 
sionally go under the limbs of trees too low to admit the 
passage of a man on horseback. 

An Indian, on coming to a trail, will generally tell at a 
glance its age, by what particular tribe it was made, the 
number of the party, and many other things connected with 
it astounding to the uninitiated. 

I remember, upon one occasion, as I was riding with a 
Delaware upon the prairies, we crossed the trail of a large 
party of Indians traveling with lodges. The tracks appear- 
ed to me quite fresh, and I remarked to the Indian that we 
must be near the party. "Oh no," said he, "the trail was 
made two days before, in the morning," at the same time 
pointing with his finger to where the sun would be at about 
eight o'clock. Then, seeing that my curiosity was excited 
to know by what means he arrived at this conclusion, he 



A BEAR-TRACK. 293 

called my attention to the fact that there had been no dew 
for the last two nights, but that on the previous morning it 
had been heavy. He then pointed out to me some spears 
of grass that had been pressed down into the earth by the 
horses' hoofs, upon which the sand still adhered, having 
dried on, thus clearly showing that the grass was wet when 
the tracks were made. 

At another time, as I was traveling with the same Indian, 
I discovered upon the ground what I took to be a bear- 
track, with a distinctly-marked impression of the heel and 
all the toes. I immediately called the Indian's attention to 
it, at the same time flattering myself that I had made quite 
an important discovery, which had escaped his observation. 
The fellow remarked with a smile, "Oh no, captain, maybe 
so he not bear-track." He then pointed with his gun-rod 
to some spears of grass that grew near the impression, but I 
did not comprehend the mj^stery until he dismounted and 
explained to me that, when the wind was blowing, the 
spears of grass would be bent over toward the ground, and 
the oscillating motion thereby produced would scoop out 
the loose sand into the shape I have described. The truth 
of this explanation was apparent, yet it occurred to me that 
its solution would have baffled the wits of most white men. 

Fresh tracks generally show moisture where the earth 
has been turned up, but after a short exposure to the sun 
they become dry. If the tracks be very recent, the sand 
may sometimes, where it is very loose and dry, be seen run- 
ning back into the tracks, and by following them to a place 
where they cross water, the earth will be wet for some dis- 
tance after they leave it. The droppings of the dung from 
animals are also good indications of the age of a trail. It 
is well to remember whether there have been any rains 
within a few days, as the age of a trail may sometimes be 
conjectured in this way. It is very easy to tell whether 

2B* 



29-1 INDIANS IN FLIGHT. 

tracks have been made before or after a rain, as the water 
washes off all the sharp edges. 

It is not a difficult matter to distinguish the tracks of 
American horses from those of Indian horses, as the latter 
are never shod ; moreover, they are much smaller. 

In trailing horses, there will be no trouble while the 
ground is soft, as the impressions they leave will then be 
deep and distinct; but when they pass over hard or rocky 
ground, it is sometimes a very slow and troublesome pro- 
cess to follow them. Where there is grass, the trace can be 
seen for a considerable time, as the grass will be trodden 
down and bent in the direction the party has moved ; 
should the grass have returned to its upright position, the 
trail can often be distinguished by standing upon it and 
looking ahead for some distance in the direction it has been 
pursuing; the grass that has been turned over will show a 
different shade of green from that around it, and this often 
marks a trail for a long time. 

Should all traces of the track be obliterated in certain 
localities, it is customary with the Indians to follow on in 
the direction it has been pursuing for a time, and it is quite 
probable that in some place where the ground is more fa- 
vorable it will show itself again. Should the trail not be 
recovered in this way, they search for a place where the 
earth is soft, and make a careful examination, embracing 
the entire area where it is likely to run. 

Indians who find themselves pursued and wish to escape, 
scatter as much as possible, with an understanding that 
they are to meet again at some point in advance, so that, if 
the pursuing party follows any one of the tracks, it will in- 
variably lead to the place of rendezvous. If, for example, 
the trail points in the direction of a mountain pass, or to- 
ward any other place which affords the only passage 
through a particular section of country, it would not be 



HORSE-TRACKS. 



295 



worth while to spend much time in hunting it, as it would 
probably be regained at the pass. 

As it is important in trailing Indians to know at what 
gaits the J are traveling, and as the appearance of the tracks 
of horses are not familiar to all, I have in the following cut 





IViniuinrf. 












Trottini^. | ^VolTdiig 



HORSE-TRACKS AT ORDINARY SPEED. 



represented the prints made by the hoofs at the ordinary 
speed of the walk, trot, and gallop, so that persons, in fol- 



296 POINTS OF COMPASS. 

lowing tbe trail of Indians, may form an idea as to the 
probability of overtaking them, and regulate their move- 
ments accordingly. 

In traversing a district of unknown country where there 
are no prominent landmarks, and with the view of return- 
ing to the point of departure, a pocket compass should al- 
ways be carried, and attached by a string to a button-hole 
of the coat, ta prevent its being lost or mislaid; and on 
starting out, as well as frequently, during the trip, take 
the bearing, and examine the appearance of the country 
when facing toward the starting-point, as a landscape pre- 
sents a very different aspect when viewed from opposite 
directions. There are few white men who can retrace their 
steps for any great distance unless they take the above pre- ' 
cautions in passing over an unknown country for the first 
time ; but with the Indians it is different ; the sense of lo- 
cality seems to be innate with them, and they do not re- 
quire the aid of the magnetic needle to guide them. 

Upon a certain occasion, when I had made a long march 
over an unexplored section, and was returning upon an en- 
tirely different route without either road or trail, a Dela- 
ware, by the name of" Black Beaver," who was in my par- 
ty, on arriving at a particular point, suddenly halted, and, 
turning to me, asked if I recognized the country before us. 
Seeing no familiar objects, I replied in the negative. He 
put the same question to the other white men of the party, 
all of whom gave the same answers, whereupon he smiled, 
and in his quaint vernacular said, "Injun he don't know 
nothing. Injun big fool. White man mighty smart; he 
know heap." At the same time he pointed to a tree about 
two hundred yards from where we were then standing, and 
informed us that our outward trail ran directly by the side 
of it, which proved to be true. 

Another time, as I was returning from the Comanche 



LOST ON THE PRAIRIES. 297 

country over a route many miles distant from the one I 
had traveled in going out, one of my Delaware hunters, 
who had never visited the section before, on arriving upon 
the crest of an eminence in the prairie, pointed out to me a 
clump of trees in the distance, remarking that our outward 
track would be found there. I was not, however, disposed 
to credit his statement until we reached the locality, and 
found the road passing the identical spot he had indicated. 

This same Indian would start from any place to which 
he had gone by a sinuous route, through an unknown 
country, and keep a direct bearing back to the place of de- 
parture ; and he assured me that he has never, even during 
the most cloudy or foggy weather, or in the darkest nights, 
lost the points of compass. There are very few white 
men who are endowed with these wonderful faculties, and 
those few are only rendered proficient by matured experi- 
ence. 

I have known several men, after they had become lost in 
the prairies, to wander about for days without exercising 
the least judgment, and finally exhibit a state of mental 
aberration almost upon the verge of lunacy. Instead of 
reasoning upon their situation, they exhaust themselves 
running ahead at their utmost speed without any regard to 
direction. When a person is satisfied that he has lost his 
way, he should stop and reflect upon the course he has been 
traveling, the time that has elapsed since he left his camp, 
and the probable distance that he is from it ; and if he is 
unable to retrace his steps, he should keep as nearly in the 
direction of them as possible ; and if he has a compass, this 
will be an easy matter; but, above all, he should guard 
against following his own track around in a circle with the 
idea that he is in a beaten trace. 

When he is traveling with a train of wagons which leaves 
a plain trail, he can make the distance he has traveled from 



298 THE STARS AS GUIDES. 

camp the radius of a circle in which to ride around, and be- 
fore the circle is described he will strike the trail. If the 
person has no compass, it is always well to make an obser- 
vation, and to remember the direction of the wind at the 
time of departure from camp ; and as this would not gener- 
ally change during the day, it would afford a means of keep- 
ing the points of the compass. 

In the night Ursa Major (the Great Bear) is not only use- 
ful to find the north star, but its position, when the pointers 
will be vertical in the heavens, may be estimated with suf- 
ficient accuracy to determine the north even when the north 
star can not be seen. In tropical latitudes, the zodiacal 
constellations, such as Orion and Antares, give the east and 
west bearing, and the Southern Cross the north and south, 
when Polaris and the Great Bear can not be seen. 

It is said that the moss upon the firs and other trees in 
Europe gives a certain indication of the points of compass 
in a forest country, the greatest amount accumulating upon 
the north side of the trees. But I have often observed the 
trees in our own forests, and have not been able to form 
any positive conclusions in this way. 

In the autumn of 18-14: 1 made a hunting excursion upon 
the peninsula of Michigan, in the vicinity of Saginaw Bay. 
That part of the country was then perfectly in a state of 
nature, and probably continues so to this day, as it is a cold, 
barren region, covered with heavy pine and tamarack trees, 
growing upon a miserable soil, illy adapted to the purposes 
of the agriculturist. In this wild and lonely section there 
were at that time a good many elk, and I started out for 
the purpose of trying my skill in hunting the noble beast, 
which I had then never had the pleasure of seeing. I en- 
gaged for a guide an old Chippeway Indian named "Peto- 
xoanquad^'' who had passed the greater portion of his life in 
hunting moose, elk, bears, and deer in that very locality. 



PETOWANQUAD. 299 

and was perfectly well acquainted with the haunts and 
habits of those animals. 

He told me that, many years before this, he was hunting 
here in the winter season at a time when the snow was so 
deep that he was obliged to use snow-shoes; that during 
the course of his hunt he struck the tracks of seven moose, 
which he followed until he came within rifle range, and 
succeeded in killing two of them. The other five made 
their escape for the time, but he proceeded on the trail un- 
til he killed another, and thus he went on for three days, 
bivouacking at night upon the tracks, and at the expiration 
of this time he had killed the entire gang,' with a large 
black bear which he encountered during the time. He 
then returned home and called out a sufficient number of 
Indians to go with hand-sleds and bring in the meat. 

After we had reached the hunting-ground we made our 
bivouac in the woods, and prepared to try our luck the fol- 
lowing morning. 

Petowanquad, who was master of ceremonies upon the 
occasion, cautioned us against firing our guns or making 
other noises, as he said the sense of hearing in the elk was 
so very acute that at the slightest unusual noise they would 
take alarm and run away. 

At daylight the next morning Petowanquad and myself 
shouldered our rifles and started out with two dogs in leash, 
.and we had not gone far before I saw some tracks which 
to me appeared fresh, but the Indian said they were made 
the day previous, and that the animals then were probably 
far off. We soon saw others, which he said had been made 
during the past night, but these were not sufficiently fresh 
to answer his purposes. Afterward we came to others, 
which he decided to have been made some three hours be- 
fore ; but still he did not seem inclined to follow them, and 
so we traveled on until it got to be about ten o'clock, when 



300 SHOOTIXG ELK. 

we struck the tracks of five elk, whicli the Indian, in a low- 
tone of voice, informed me had just passed, and were in all 
probability close by us at that time, whereupon we un- 
leashed the dogs, who instantly bounded away upon the 
tracks into a dense thicket of brush, and in a very few 
minutes we heard them giving tongue most vociferously 
on the other side, and rapidly making their way up the 
bank of a small creek. The Indian was nearly as much 
excited as I was myself, and we started in pursuit at the 
top of our speed. After we had run about half a mile my 
ardor began to abate somewhat ; I became thoroughly 
blown, and seated myself upon a log to rest, telling the In- 
dian to follow the sound of the dogs, and keep them within 
hearing until they brought the animals to bay, but under 
no circumstances to fire at them, as I was ambitious to have 
the honor of killing them myself. He proceeded on, and 
in a few minutes I heard him call to me. On joining him 
he informed me that the dogs had brought a large buck elk 
" to bay" in the creek just above where we then were, 
whereupon I approached the sound of the dogs' voices, 
and saw an immense elk, with antlers at least five feet long, 
standing in the bed of the creek, with his head erect, and 
the two dogs jumping up and biting his nose and ears, at 
the same time keeping up a furious barking. I leveled m}^ 
rifle and placed an ounce of lead directly back of his shoul- 
der, at which he trotted off, but the excellent dogs brought 
him to bay again directly, when with the Indian's rifle I 
gave him another shot near the same place, but it was not 
until I had fired another ball into his head that I brought 
him down. He was a magnificent fellow, weighing at least 
five hundred pounds, and his horns were so large that they 
were a full load for the Indian in returning to our camp. 
This was my first elk, and, as may be imagined, I felt very 
proud of the exploit. 



THE DEER. 301 

The main object I had in view in describing this hunt 
here was to show the great accuracy with which the expe- 
rienced Indian hunter will at a glance, from the appearance 
of a track, approximate to the time when the game passed. 
I endeavored to learn from the Indian the secret of this 
wonderful faculty ; he could not, however, enlighten me, 
saying that it was in his head, but he could not explain it ; 
I am therefore convinced that a knowledge of this art can 
only be attained by long-continued practical application 
and experience. 

From our camp to the point where we struck the fresh 
elk tracks was some eight or ten miles in a direct line, over 
a densely - timbered, flat country, without a single hill, 
stream, or other landmark to break the monotony of the 
surface. I noticed, in passing over it in the morning, that 
the Indian would occasionally kick up some dry leaves 
with his feet, and, in returning, I observed that we passed 
near some of these places ; but my astonishment was very 
great when he stopped suddenly and requested me to fire 
off my rifle, which I did, and immediately our companions 
in the camp called out to us but a short distance off. Al- 
though I considered myself a tolerably good woodsman, 
yet I had not the slightest conception we were then any 
where near our camp that we had left in the morning. 
• There was so much sameness in the appearance of this 
section that one of our young Indians got lost on the same 
day, and did not find his way back until he went to the 
lake and followed out our trail. 

THE DEER. 

Of all game quadrupeds indigenous to this continent, the 
common red deer is probably more widely dispersed from 
north to south and from east to west over our vast posses- 
sions than any other. They are found in all latitudes from 

20 



302 DECREASE OF GAME. 

Hudson's Bay to Mexico, and they clamber over the most 
elevated pealj;s of the western sierras with the same ease 
that they range the eastern forests or the everglades of 
Florida. In summer they crop the grass upon the sum- 
mits of the Rocky Mountains, and in winter, when the snow 
falls deep, they descend into sheltered valleys, where they 
fall an easy prey to the Indians. 

Besides the common red deer of the Eastern States, two 
other varieties are found in the Rocky Mountains, viz., the 
" black-tailed deer," which takes its name from the fact of 
its having a small tuft of black hair upon the end of its 
tail, and the long-tailed species. The former of these is con- 
siderably larger than the Eastern deer, and is much darker, 
being of a very deep-yellowish iron-gray, with a yellowish 
red upon the belly. It frequents the mountains, and is 
never seen far away from them. Its habits are similar to 
those of the red deer, and it is hunted in the same way. 
The only difference I have been able to discern between 
the long-tailed variety and the common deer is in the length 
of the tail and body. I have seen this animal only in the 
neighborhood of the Rocky Mountains, but it may resort to 
other localities. 

Although the deer are still abundant in many of our for- 
est districts in the East, and do not appear to decrease very 
rapidly, yet there has within a few years been a very evi- 
dent diminution in the numbers of those frequenting our 
Western prairies. In passing through Southern Texas in 
1846, thousands of deer were met with daily, and, astonish- 
ing as it may appear, it was no uncommon spectacle to see 
from one to two hundred in a single herd; the prairies 
seemed literally alive with them ; but in 1855 it was sel- 
dom that a herd of ten was seen in the same localities. It 
seemed to me that the vast herds first met with could not 
have been killed off by the hunters in that sparsely-popu- 



DEER - STALKING. . 303 

lated section, and I was puzzled to know what had become 
of them. It is possible they may have moved off into Mex- 
ico ; they certainly are not in our territory at the present 
time. 

Sportsmen have never been, and probably never will be, 
unanimous in their opinions regarding the best arm for 
deer-hunting. The relative ef&ciency of the rifle and the 
smooth-bored fowling-piece has been a fruitful theme for 
discussion among the respective advocates of each for many 
y^ars, and some very cogent arguments have been adduced 
in support of both sides of the question. 

In driving deer with dogs, where the hunter is stationed 
upon a " runway," and seldom has an opportunity of get- 
ting any other than a running shot, and this oftentimes in 
dense cover, I should unquestionably give the preference to 
a large gauged shot-gun. I should also choose the same de- 
scription of gun to hunt deer on horseback in thick cover, 
where the game is lying down, and generally springs up 
suddenly and is out of sight before a rifle could be brought 
to bear with much certainty upon it ; but when it comes to 
still-hunting deer, there is no comparison, in my judgment, 
between the relative merits of the two arms. 

Any one. who has been in the habit of deer-stalking 
knows that it is generally difficult to approach nearer to 
them than about one hundred yards ; he also will be aware 
of the fact that a smooth-bored gun, even when charged 
with Ely's wire buck-shot cartridges, is a very uncertain 
weapon at greater distances than about sixty or seventy 
yards ; while, on the other hand, it will be equally appar- 
ent to him that a good rifle, in the hands of an experienced 
shot, is perfectly reliable at all distances under one hundred 
and fifty yards. 

That man who can not kill a deer at one hundred yards 
with a good rifle had better throw it aside, take the shot- 



304 . RIFLES. 

gun, and turn his attention to smaller game, for he certainly 
never will become proficient as a deer-hunter. 

One of the most conclusive arguments I know of upon 
this subject is found in the fact that all our frontier hunt- 
ers, who rely exclusively upon their guns to furnish them 
subsistence, use only the rifle ; and, indeed, I have never 
known a very expert deer-stalker that would make use of 
any other arm. 

The rifles that are manufactured in the Eastern States 
are designed for small game or target practice, and are, for 
the most part, of small calibre, carrying from about eighty 
to one hundred round balls to the pound. While it is ad- 
mitted that these missiles, when fired with great accuracy 
through the vitals of a deer, will bring him to the ground, 
yet it is contended that if they only penetrate the fleshy 
parts of the animal, or even pass through the entrails, they 
are often insufficient to stop him ; whereas, if a deer be 
wounded with a large ball, he will bleed much more free- 
ly, and will sooner become exhausted. 

I have always been much more successful with a large- 
calibred rifle than with a small one ; and I am of the opin- 
ion that a gauge admitting about thirty-two round balls to 
the pound is the most efficient, not only for deer-shooting, 
but for all the other large-game quadrupeds found upon 
our continent. 

A hunting rifle should not be shorter in the barrel than 
thirty inches (I prefer thirty-four inches), as this length in- 
sures a good line of sight, and gives a desirable balance to 
the gun when brought to the shoulder. A shorter barrel 
may throw the ball with as much accuracy, but it is more 
easily thrown out of the proper line of direction, and does 
not allow sufficient interval between the front and back 
sights. 

The weight of metal in the barrel is a consideration of 



RIFLE SIGHTS. 305 

importance, but will depend somewhat upon the physical 
powers of the individual. A heavy barrel recoils less than 
a light one, and, consequently, throws the projectile with 
more precision ; but a delicate man can not carry a very 
heavy rifle upon his shoulder all day without too great a 
tax upon his powers of endurance. Some of our stout and 
hardy frontiermen, like the Swiss mountaineers, may carry 
a rifle of twenty pounds' weight, but this I deem unneces- 
sarily large. A rifle weighing entire from ten and a half 
to twelve pounds is, in my judgment, heavy enough for 
hunting purposes. It does not recoil perceptibly when 
properly charged, and is not cumbersome for men of ordi- 
nary physique. 

A great variety of complicated elevating back-sights 
have been brought to the notice of the public within the 
past few years, and some of them received with favor 
among military men. They are graduated, and designed 
to be elevated or depressed as the firing distance increases 
or diminishes. Theoretically they are correct in principle, 
and perhaps, for military arms, they may be found advan- 
tageous when the distances can be determined with accu- 
racy ; but when the enemy is manoeuvring, and continual- 
ly occupying different positions, the distances must, for the 
most part, be estimated. Under such circumstances, it 
strikes my mind that but little, if any, practical utility will 
be attained from the use of this awkward and cumbersome 
appendage. 

The open back-sight is, in my opinion, the only one that 
should ever be used upon a hunting-rifle. After it is firm- 
ly attached to the gun, the point-blank distance can be as- 
certained by experiment, and the sights adjusted to the 
proper distance. If the object is at a greater or less dis- 
tance, the hunter draws a coarser or finer sight, and by 
practice he will become enabled to make this estimate with 

2C* 



306 HABITS OF DEER. 

a good deal of accuracy ; whereas, if lie have the elevating 
sight upon his rifle, he must stop to regulate it to the dis- 
tance the game happens to show itself before he can fire, 
and by the time this is done, unless the game is more ac- 
commodating than I have usually found it, he will be dis- 
appointed. 

The only objection I have discovered in the use of the 
open sight is, that when the sun's rays strike it at particu- 
lar angles it produces a glimmering in the notch, which pre- 
vents drawing a fine sight ; but this difiiculty is, in a great 
degree, overcome by a very ingenious and simple device, 
which originated with one of my Eocky Mountain guides. 
It consists in having a semi-spherical concavity drilled into 
the top of the sight, with the circumference tangent to the 
outer front and rear edges of it. The notches are then cut 
so as to be in a vertical plane with the axis of the piece 
when the sight is fixed in position. This orifice effectually 
screens the notches and prevents any glimmering. 

The front sights upon the rifles found in the shops in 
Northeastern States are generally too short, and our West- 
ern hunters always knock them off and put on others. 
This sight should be about an inch long, and shaped ac- 
cording to the opposite diagram. The hunters generally 
make them of a piece of silver cut from the edge of a half 
dollar. 

Twenty years' experience in deer-hunting has taught me 
several facts relative to the habits of the animal, which, 
when well understood, will be found of much service to the 
inexperienced hunter, and greatly contribute to his success. 
The best target-shots are not necessarily the most skillful 
deer-stalkers. One of the great secrets of this art is in 
knowing how to approach the game without giving alarm, 
and this can not easily be done unless the hunter sees it be- 



RIFLE SIGHTS. 



307 




fore he is himself discovered. There are so many objects 
in the woods resembling the deer in color that none but a 
practiced eye can often detect the difference. 

When the deer is reposing he generally turns his head 
from the wind, in which position he can see an enemy ap- 
proaching from that direction, and his nose will apprise 
him of the presence of danger from the opposite side. The 
best method of hunting deer, therefore, is across the wind. 



308 WALKING UP TO DEER. 

While the deer are feeding, early in the morning and a 
short time before dark in the evening are the best times to 
stalk thera, as they are then busily occupied and less on 
the alert. When a deer is espied with his head down, crop- 
ping the grass, the hunter advances cautiously, keeping his 
eyes constantly directed upon him, and screening himself 
behind intervening objects, or, in the absence of other cov- 
er, crawls along upon his hands and knees in the grass, un- 
til the deer hears his step and raises his head, when he 
must instantly stop and remain in an attitude fixed and mo- 
tionless as a statue, for the animal's vision is his keenest 
sense. When alarmed he will detect the slightest move- 
ment of a small object, and, unless the hunter stands or lies 
perfectly still, his presence will be detected. If the hunter 
does not move, the deer will, after a short time, recover 
from his alarm and resume his grazing, when he may be 
again approached. The deer always exhibits his alarm by 
a sudden jerking of the tail just before he raises his head. 

I once saw a Delaware Indian walk directly up within 
rifle range of a deer that was feeding upon the open prairie 
and shoot him down ; he was, however, a long time in ap- 
proaching, and made frequent halts whenever the animal 
flirted his tail and raised his head. Although he often 
turned toward the hunter, yet he did not appear to notice 
him, probably taking him for a stump or tree. 

When the deer are lying down in the smooth prairie, un- 
less the grass is tall, it is difficult to get near them, as they 
are generally looking around, and become alarmed at the 
least noise. 

The most auspicious season of the year for still-hunting 
deer in a northern latitude is immediately after the first 
light falls of snow during the early part of winter. The 
game is then "mi seasojz," fat, well-flavored, and the fawns 
sufficiently grown to take care of themselves. 



DEER IN COVER, 309 

When the ground is covered with a soft carpet of three 
or four inches of snow, the hunter passes over it without 
making much noise by the crackling of twigs or the rus- 
tling of leaves under his feet. 

Moccasins are preferable for this kind of hunting to boots 
or shoes, especially in the cold and dry weather, for the rea- 
son that they are more soft and yielding, and do not occa- 
sion so much noise by crushing twigs or striking against 
hard substances, and are therefore less liable to startle the 
game. 

In starting out at early dawn, after there has been a light 
snow during the preceding night, the hunter may be cer- 
tain, should he encounter a track, that it is fresh, and that 
the animal is not very far distant. He then, in a region 
where the deer are not very abundant, takes the trail and 
follows it ; but, in doing this, he should not keep his eyes 
constantly fixed upon the ground, but walk cautiously along 
near the track, carefully avoiding stepping upon dry brush, 
or breaking off overhanging limbs of trees, and attentively 
scrutinizing all the ground in front within rifle range. 

Where the deer has been moving directly along, without 
stopping to lie down or wandering about to eat, it will not 
be necessary to exercise so much caution, as the animal 
will probably be found some distance in advance ; but 
whenever the track takes a direction toward a thicket of 
brush, a morass covered with tall grass or rushes, or, in- 
deed, toward any other place affording dense cover, where 
the animal might be likely to lie down, the hunter should 
at once leave the trail and make a wide detour around 
upon the lee side of such covert, keeping his eyes intently 
occupied in scrutinizing every object within the area. Aft- 
er passing entirely around the copse in this manner, and 
arriving at the point of departure, if he has not crossed the 
track on the opposite side, he knows that the deer is within 



310 RUNNING DEER. 

the circle he has described^ and he then makes sure that his 
rifle is in good firing order ; and, carrying it in such a po- 
sition that it can be brought to bear upon the object in the 
shortest possible time, he begins to contract the circle by 
gradually approaching nearer the covert, and keenly search- 
ing every place where it is possible for the deer to make 
his bed. To insure success in the execution of this very 
adroit and strategic approach, it is absolutely necessary that 
the hunter should move with a slow and regular gait, but 
on no account stop, or make any unusual demonstration, 
until he discovers the game and is in readiness to deliver 
his shot, as, in the event of his being very near, the deer 
will oftentimes jump up and run at the instant he makes a 
halt, whereas if he moves steadily along with a measured 
step, as if he intended to pass by, they will generally lie 
close, and sometimes I have even seen them lower their 
heads upon the ground to hide from the hunter. 

The antlers of the bucks, before they shed them, can oft- 
en be seen over the tops of the tall grass or low brush when 
they are lying down, and the long erect ears of the does are 
the first objects that make their appearance under the same 
circumstances. 

The hunter must be careful not to allow his eyes to catch 
those of the deer when he discovers him, as I am informed 
by a finished sportsman and an experienced deer-stalker 
(although I have never observed the fact myself) that in 
such event the animal will instantly jump up and run. 

During the ^^ running season'^ the bucks follow on the 
trail of the does in a fast walk or slow trot, and, as they are 
then eagerly occupied in the pursuit of their object, they 
are not easily diverted from it. The hunter may then fall 
in behind them after they pass him, and, following up rap- 
idly, approach within rifle range without difficulty. 

The "running season" in the Northern States generally 



WOUNDED DEER. 311 

commences in October, and lasts about a month ; but in the 
Southern States it is about a month later. During this sea- 
son the bucks run themselves down, become poor, their 
necks swell to an enormous size, and the venison is then 
rank and unfit for the table. 

A wounded deer can be followed without difl&culty upon 
the snow ; and if the blood that flows from the wound is 
of a light red or pink color, it is a certain indication that 
the animal has been struck in the vitals, and will not run 
far. In the summer season a wounded deer will generally 
seek the water, and, hiding under the shelving banks of 
rivers, or in the grass upon the borders of ponds, sink his 
body, only keeping his head exposed ; it then becomes nec- 
essary to search very closely to discover his hiding-place. 

"When a deer has been alarmed by a hunter upon his 
track, he often runs a long distance before he recovers from 
his fright, and it requires a long and exhausting chase to 
come up with him again ; even then he will be likely to 
keep an eye to the rear for a considerable time, and it will 
require great caution to approach within shooting distance. 
I have always, under such circumstances, thought it better 
to abandon the track and look for another. 

When a deer has but one leg broken he makes good 
running, and a man on foot will find it very difiicult to 
overtake him without a dog to bring him "to bay." I re- 
member one instance where I broke both fore legs of a doe 
just above the knees, yet, notwithstanding these severe 
wounds, she ran off upon the stumps nearly half a mile be- 
fore I succeeded in securing her. 

Another very successful method of deer-stalking, which 
is practiced a good deal in the sparsely-populated districts 
of Texas and Mexico, where the game is abundant, and ac- 
customed to grazing in the vicinity of cattle and horses, is 
by making use of a gentle and tractable horse or mule, and 



312 SHOOTING WITH A HORSE. 

approaching as near the deer as can conveniently be done 
without giving alarm (about 300 yards) ; the hunter then 
dismounts, attaches one end of his wiping-stick, or other 
small rod, to the bridle-bit by means of a string ; he then 
takes the opposite end of the rod in one hand, his rifle in 
the other, and, placing himself near the horse's shoulder on 
the opposite side from the deer, so as to be screened from 
their observation by the horse, he moves off very slowly in 
a direction not directly toward the game, but so as to pass 
within the desirable rifle range, and upon the lee side. 
With the stick he is enabled to guide his horse, stop him, 
or turn him in any direction he may desire. In this man- 
ner he proceeds in a slow walk, carefully covering himself 
behind the horse, and gradually bearing toward the deer. 

During the approach the deer will sometimes take alarm, 
raise their heads, and cast a startled and inquiring look at 
the horse. Should this occur, the hunter will at once stop 
and allow his horse to crop the grass, while he himself low- 
ers his head so as to be entirely screened from the deer. 
As soon as they regain their composure and resume their 
grazing, he proceeds again, and will generally be able to 
get within short rifle range, when he can stoop down and 
fire under his horse's belly or neck. If, however, the stalk- 
ing-horse has not been trained to this particular method of 
hunting, or is alarmed at the report of fire-arms, the hunter 
should carry the lariat rope in his hand, and, when he is 
sufficiently near the deer, drop the guiding-stick, and allow 
his horse to pass on, while he remains upon the ground be- 
hind, and places himself in position to fire at the instant he 
is uncovered by the horse. I have often hunted in this 
way, and with good success. I observed, however, after a 
particular herd had been stalked several times, that the}^ 
became wary, after which it was necessary to unsaddle be- 
fore commencing the approach. 



BLEATING DEER. 313 

Another successful, but not verj sportsmanlike method 
of deer -stalking is resorted to by the unscrupulous pot- 
hunters in Western Texas and Mexico, and which is so en- 
tirely different from any other I have ever heard of that it 
is worthy of a notice for its originality. It consists in 
making use of a dry and stiff ox-hide, to one end of which 
a rope is attached. A yoke of well-trained and gentle oxen 
are then hitched to the rope, and the hunter drives out into 
the prairies where the deer resort. When he discovers a 
herd, and has approached as near as can be done without 
disturbing them, he seats himself upon'the hide", and, with- 
out speaking or making any other noise, directs the team 
with his whip toward the game. During the approach, he 
allows his cattle to move slowly, and occasionally to stop 
and crop the grass. He is well screened by the oxen and 
the prairie grass, and will find it a very easy matter to 
drive within short rifle range without being discovered. 
After killing a deer, he places it upon his drag, and drives 
on in search of others. 

The Indians are in the habit of using a small instrument 
which imitates the bleat of the young fawn, with which 
they lure the doe within range of their rifles. The young 
fawn gives out no scent upon its track until it is sufficient- 
ly grown to make good running, and instinct teaches the 
mother that this wise provision of nature to preserve the 
helpless little quadruped from the ravages of wolves, pan- 
thers, and other carnivorous beasts, will be defeated if she 
remains with it, as her tracks can not be concealed. She 
therefore hides her fawn in the grass, where it is almost im- 
possible to see it, even when very near it, goes off to some 
neighboring thicket within call, and makes her bed alone. 
The Indian pot-hunt^, who is but little scrupulous as to 
the means he employs in accomplishing his ends, sounds 

the bleat along near the places where he thinks the game 

2D 



314 BL'CK FEVER. 

is lying, and the unsuspicious doe, who iinagiues that her 
offspring is in distress, rushes with headlong impetuosity 
toward the sound, and often goes within a few yards of the 
hunter to receive her death-wound. 

This is cruel sport, and can only be justified when meat 
is scarce, which is very frequently the case in the Indian's 
larder. 

It does not always comport with a man's feelings of se- 
curity, especially if he happens to be a little nervous, to 
sound the deer-bleat in a wild region of country. I once 
undertook to experiment with the instrument myself, and 
made my first essay in attempting to call up an antelope 
which I discovered in the distance. I succeeded admirably 
in luring the wary victim within shooting range, had raised 
upon my knees, and was just in the act of pulling trigger, 
when a rustling in the grass on my left drew my attention 
in that direction, where, much to my surprise, I beheld a 
huge panther within about twenty yards, bounding with gi- 
gantic strides directly toward me. I turned my rifle, and 
in an instant, much to my relief and gratification, its con- 
tents were lodged in the heart of the beast. 

Many men, when they suddenly encounter a deer, are 
seized with nervous excitement, called in sporting parlance 
the "iMcZ:/euer," which causes them to fire at random. Not- 
withstanding I have had much experience in hunting, I 
must confess that I am never entirely free from some of the 
symptoms of this malady when firing at large game, and I 
believe that in four out of five cases where I have missed 
the game my balls have passed too high. I have endeav- 
ored to obviate this by sighting my rifle low, and it has 
been attended with more successful results. The same re- 
marks apply to most other men I have met with. They 
fire too high when excited. 




o 



3h 

►J 

-1 









THE ANTELOPE. 817 

THE ANTELOPE. 

This animal frequents the most elevated bleak and naked 
prairies in all latitudes from Mexico to Oregon, and consti- 
tutes an important item of subsistence with many of the 
prairie Indians. It is the most wary, timid, and fleet ani- 
mal that inhabits the Plains. It is about the size of a small 
deer, with a heavy coating of coarse, wiry hair, and its flesh 
is more tender and juicy than that of the deer. It seldom 
enters a timbered country, but seems to delight in cropping 
the grass from the elevated swells of the prairies. When 
disturbed by the traveler, it will circle around him with the 
speed of the wind, but does not stop until it reaches some 
prominent position whence it can survey the country on all 
sides, and nothing seems to escape its keen vision. They 
will sometimes stand for a long time and look at a man, 
provided he does not move or go out of sight ; but if he 
goes behind a hill with the intention of passing around and 
getting nearer to them, he will never find them again in the 
same place. I have often tried the experiment, and invari- 
ably found that, as soon as I went where the antelope could 
not see me, he moved off. Their sense of hearing, as well 
as vision, is very acute, which renders it difficult to stalk 
them. By taking advantage of the cover afforded in bro- 
ken ground, the hunter may, by moving slowly and cau- 
tiously over the crests of the irregularities in the surface, 
sometimes approach within rifle range. 

The antelope possesses a greater degree of curiosity than 
any other animal I know of, and will often approach very 
near a strange object. The experienced hunter, taking ad- 
vantage of this peculiarit}'-, lies down and secretes himself 
in the grass, after which he raises his handkerchief, hand, 
or foot, so as to attract the attention of the animal, and thus 
often succeeds in beguiling him within shooting distance. 

2 D* 



818 THE BEAR. 

In some valleys near the Rocky Mountains, where the 
pasturage is good during the winter season, they collect in 
immense herds. The Indians are in the habit of surround- 
ing them in such localities and running them with their 
horses until they tire them out, when they slay large num- 
bers. 

The antelope makes a track much shorter than the deer, 
very broad and round at the heel, and quite sharp at the 
toe ; a little experience renders it easy to distinguish them. 

THE BEAR. 

Besides the common black bear of the Eastern States, sev- 
eral others are found in the mountains of California, Oregon, 
Utah, and New Mexico, viz., the grizzly, brown, and cinna- 
mon varieties ; all have nearly the same habits, and are hunt- 
ed in the same manner. 

From all I had heard of the grizzly bear, I was induced 
to believe him one of the most formidable and savage ani- 
mals in the universe, and that the man who would deliber- 
ately encounter and kill one of these beasts had performed 
a signal feat of courage which entitled him to a lofty posi- 
tion among the votaries of Nimrod. So firmly had I be- 
come impressed with this conviction, that I should have 
been very reluctant to fire upon one had I met him when 
alone and on foot. The grizzly bear is assuredly the mon- 
arch of the American forests, and, so far as physical strength 
is concerned, he is perhaps without a rival in the world ; 
but, after some experience in hunting, my opinions regard- 
ing his courage and his willingness to attack men have very 
materially changed. 

In passing over the elevated table-lands lying between 
the two forks of the Platte River in 1858, I encountered a 
full-grown female grizzly bear, with two cubs, very quietly 
reposing upon the open prairie, several miles distant from 



A COWARDLY MOTHER. 319 

any timber. This being the first opportunity that had ever 
occurred to me for an encounter with the ursine monster, 
and being imbued with the most e.x;alted notions of the 
beast's proclivities for offensive warfare, especially when in 
the presence of her offspring, it may very justly be imag- 
ined that I was rather more excited than usual. I, howev- 
er, determined to make the assault. I felt the utmost confi- 
dence in my horse, as she was afraid of nothing ; and, after 
arranging every thing about my saddle and arms in good 
order, I advanced to within about eighty yards before I was 
discovered by the bear, when she raised upon her haunches 
and gave me a scrutinizing examination. I seized this op- 
portune moment to fire, but missed my aim, and she started 
off, followed by her cubs at their utmost speed. After re- 
loading my rifle, I pursued, and, on coming again within 
range, delivered another shot, which struck the large bear 
in the fleshy part of the thigh, whereupon she set up a most 
distressing howl and accelerated her pace, leaving her cubs 
behind. After loading again I gave the spurs to my horse 
and resumed the chase, soon passing the cubs, who were 
making the most plaintive cries of distress. They were 
heard by the dam, but she gave no other heed to them than 
occasionally to halt for an instant, turn around, sit up on 
her posteriors, and give a hasty look back ; but, as soon as 
she saw me following her, she invariably turned again and 
redoubled her speed. I pursued about four miles and fired 
four balls into her before I succeeded in bringing her to 
the ground, and from the time I first saw her until her 
death-wound, notwithstanding I was often very close upon 
her heels, she never came to bay or made the slightest dem- 
onstration of resistance. Her sole purpose seemed to be to 
make her escape, leaving her cubs in the most cowardly 
manner. 

Upon three other different occasions I met the mountain 



320 A LADY AND A WOLF. 

bears, and once the cinnamon species, which is called the 
most formidable of all, and in none of these instances did 
they exhibit indications of anger, but invariably ran from 
me. While I was returning from New Mexico to Utah in 
1858, 1 encountered a large gray bear, which I drove for 
two miles in the same manner that a wild cow is driven. 
I was well mounted, and could ride around the bear when- 
ever I desired, and this enabled me to turn the animal in 
any direction, and thus I drove him directly back to the 
command, where he was killed. 

Such is my experience with this formidable monarch of 
the mountains, I believe that if a man came suddenly 
upon the beast in a thicket, where it could have no previ- 
ous warning, he might be attacked ; and it is possible that 
a large grizzly bear might attack a man on foot in the open 
prairie, and in some instances they have been known to 
make war upon men on horseback ; but I have always ob- 
served that an acquaintance with the larger wild animals 
of our country makes them much less formidable than they 
are represented to us when in the distance. 

It has generally been considered a very daring feat for 
Greneral Putnam when he entered a cave and killed a wolf, 
and the spot is to this day pointed out as the scene of a 
most wonderful performance; whereas those persons who 
understand the cowardly nature of the wolf, and are famil- 
iar with their habits, are perfectly aware that such an un- 
dertaking is not attended with the slightest danger. I 
knew a woman who, in the night-time, hearing a disturb- 
ance in her poultry -yard, went out and met a large wolf 
carrying off one of her turkeys. She had a very great ap- 
preciation for her turkeys, as they were the only ones with- 
in a hundred miles, and she pursued the wolf, made him 
drop the turkey, and run away. 

If any one should have any doubt regarding this state- 



GENERAL VAN VLIET. 321 

ment, I beg to refer him to my wife, who was the owner of 
the turkeys. She, however, did not know what animal she 
had pursued until a sentinel saw the wolf. 

It is my opinion, from all I have seen of the grizzly bear, 
that if he gets the wind or sight of a man on horseback at 
any considerable distance, he will endeavor to get away as 
soon as possible. I am so fully impressed with this con- 
viction, that I should hunt the animal (provided I was well 
mounted on a reliable horse) with a feeling of as much se- 
curity as I would have in hunting the buffalo. My expe- 
rience in hunting the grizzly bear differs materially from 
that of some of my acquaintances. 

General Van Vliet, who at one time was stationed at Fort 
Laramie, was hunting in the Black Hills, when he suddenly 
came into close proximity with a large grizzly bear, and 
gave him a shot, wounding him in one of the fore legs. 
This only served to exasperate the animal, and, instead of 
rymning away, he took the offensive, and charged upon the 
general, who was mounted upon a good horse, but he had 
never tefore seen one of the hideous-looking monsters, and 
was so much terrified at his appearance that he became al- 
most paralyzed, and could hardly move ; and the most vig- 
orous application of the spurs had no effect in accelerating 
his speed, until the bear came up and struck him in the 
buttock with one of his huge paws, which restored his pow- 
ers of locomotion, and he bounded off with lightning speed, 
and carried his rider out of danger. The general subse- 
quently killed the bear. 

My first bear was killed "in rather a novel manner, in the 
hills bordering Pecan Bayou, Texas, in 1850, while I was 
examining the country with the view of establishing a new 
military post. Attached to my copimand were several Del- 
aware hunters, to whom I had expressed an earnest desire 
of adding the ursine monarch to the list of my hunting tro- 



322 INDIANS DRIVING A BEAR. 

phies, and they very obligingly promised to afibid me ev- 
ery facility in their power to gratify my ambition. 

One day, while hunting alone, in an exceedingly wild and 
solitary- locality, I heard in the distance the sound of loud 
whooping and screaming of Indians, who apparently were 
approaching toward me. I was in the woods at the time, 
and could not discern objects very far off, but as this was 
in a section frequented by wild Indians, I thought it by no 
means improbable that the sounds proceeded from some of 
them, and I hastened to a position behind a large rock 
where I could screen myself and horse, and at the same 
time observe every thing in front. The sound continued 
to advance, until at length, to my great relief (for I must 
confess I was considerably excited just then), I discovered 
a black bear emerge from the woods, with three of tbe Del- 
awares whooping most vociferously in hot pursuit, and all 
coming directly to where I stood. I mounted my horse, 
and, joining in the chase, had the good fortune to kill t^ie 
bear at the first shot. 

The Indians informed me that they had driven the ani- 
mal for nearly a mile, and were on the way back to the 
command for the express purpose of giving me an oppor- 
tunity to kill .it. He had, several times during the drive^ 
taken to trees, but in every instance they had climbed up 
and shaken him down. They laughed most heartily in de- 
scribing to me the efforts of the animal to make his escape 
from them, and congratulated me on the occasion of killing 
my '■'■first hear." 

Black Beaver says he was once in a canoe pursuing a 
black bear that had taken the water to cross the Missouri 
River. On coming near the animal he gave him a shot, 
but the ball only grazed the top of his head, and he turned, 
swam up to the canoe, and, placing his paws upon the gun- 
wale, seemed determined to get in. Not feeling inclined to 



SAGACITY OF BEARS. 325 

take such a passenger into his frail craft, he endeavored to 
keep him off by striking him over the head with his dis- 
charged rifle, but this only had the effect to infuriate him, 
and make him the more persistent in his apparent determ- 
ination to embark in the dug-out. He then resorted to an 
expedient he had heard of, but never before practiced. It 
was, to lay his paddle across upon the top of the bear's 
neck, which caused him to let go his hold upon the canoe, 
seize the paddle on each side of his neck, and immediately 
sink to the bottom, and he was drowned. 

The grizzly, like the black bear, hibernates in winter, 
and makes his appearance in the spring, with his claws 
grown out long, and very soft and tender ; he is then poor, 
and unfit for food. 

I have heard a very curious fact stated by several old 
mountaineers regarding the mountain bears, which, of 
course, I can not vouch for, but it is given by them with 
great apparent sincerity and candor. They assert that no 
instance has ever been known of a female bear having been 
killed in a state of pregnancy. This singular fact in the 
history of the animal seems most inexplicable to me, unless 
she remains concealed in her brumal slumber until after 
she has been delivered of her cubs. 

I was told by an old Delaware Indian that when the bear 
has been traveling against the wind and wishes to lie down, 
he always turns in an opposite direction, and goes some dis- 
tance away from his first track before making his bed. If 
an enemy then comes upon his trail, his keen sense of smell 
will apprise him of the danger. The same Indian mention- 
ed that when a bear had been pursued and sought shelter 
in a cave, he had often endeavored to eject him with smoke, 
but that the bear would advance to the mouth of the cave, 
where the fire was burning, and put it out with his paws, 
then retreat into the cave again. This would indicate that 



326 LASSOING BEARS. 

Bruin is endowed with some glimpses of reason beyond the 
ordinary instincts of the brute creation in general, and, in- 
deed, is capable of discerning the connection between cause 
and effect. Notwithstanding the extraordinary intelligence 
which this quadruped exhibits upon some occasions, upon 
others he shows himself to be one of the most stupid brutes 
imaginable. For example, when he has taken possession of 
a cavern, and the courageous hunter enters with a torch and 
rifle, it is said he will, instead of forcibly ejecting the in- 
truder, raise himself upon his haunches and cover his eyes 
with his paws, so as to exclude the light, apparently think- 
ing that in this situation he can, not be seen. The hunter 
can then approach as close as he pleases and shoot him 
down. 

LASSOING GRIZZLY BEARS. 

The Spanish vaqueros of California, who, by the constant 
exercise of their vocation, become astonishingly expert in 
throwing the lasso, occasionally capture the grizzly bear 
with it. As this curious and somewhat hazardous method 
of hunting is well described by Mr. J. Eoss Browne, in his 
interesting book on California, I do not know how to give 
a better idea of it than to quote his own words. It appear- 
ed that while he was in the valley of the Santa Marguerita, 
he saw a large animal coming toward him pursued by four 
horsemen, upon which he concealed himself in a ravine. 
He says: "Scarcely had I partially concealed myself when 
I heard a loud shouting from the men on horseback, and, 
peeping over the bank, saw within fifty or sixty paces a 
huge grizzly bear, but no longer retreating. He had faced 
round toward his pursuers, and now seemed determined to 
fight. The horsemen were evidently native Californians, 
and managed their animals with wonderful skill and grace. 
The nearest swept down like an avalanche toward the bear. 



• A GRIZZLY LASSOED. 827 

while the others coursed o£f a short distance in a circling 
direction to prevent his escape. Suddenly swerving a lit- 
tle to one side, the leader whirled his lasso once or twice 
around his head, and let fly at his game with unerring aim. 
The loop caught one of the fore paws, and the bear was in- 
stantly jerked down upon his haunches, struggling and 
roaring with all his might. It was a striking instance of 
the power of the rider over the horse, that, wild with ter- 
ror as the latter was, he dared not disobey the slightest 
pressure of the rein, but went through all the evolutions, 
blowing trumpet -blasts from his nostrils, and with eyes 
starting from their sockets. Despite the strain kept upon 
the lasso, the bear soon regained his feet, and commenced 
hauling in the spare line with his fore paws so as to get 
within reach of the horse. He had advanced within ten 
feet before the nearest of the other horsemen could bring 
his lasso to bear upon him. The first throw was at his 
hind legs — the main object being to stretch him out — but 
it missed. Another more fortunate cast took him round 
the neck. Both riders pulled in opposite directions, and 
the bear soon rolled on the ground again, biting furiously 
at the lassos, and uttering the most terrific roars. The 
strain upon his neck soon choked off his breath, and he 
was forced to let loose his grasp upon the other lasso. 
While struggling to free his neck, the two other horsemen 
dashed up, swinging their lassos and shouting with all their 
might so as to attract his attention. The nearest, watching 
narrowly every motion of the frantic animal, soon let fly 
his lasso, and made a lucky hitch around one of his hind 
legs. The other, following quickly with a large loop, swung 
it entirely over the bear's body, and all four riders now set 
up a yell of triumph, and began pulling in opposite direc- 
tions. The writhing, pitching, and straining of the pow- 
erful monster were now absolutely fearful. A dust arose 



328 AN AMATEUR SPORTSMAN, 

over him, and tlie earth flew up in every direction. Some- 
times by a desperate effort he regained his feet, and actu- 
ally dragged one or more of the horses toward him by 
main strength ; but whenever he attempted this, the others 
stretched their lassos, and either choked him or jerked 
him down upon his haunches. It was apparent that his 
wind was giving out, partly by reason of the long chase, 
and partly owing to the noose around his throat. A gen- 
eral pull threw him once more upon his back. Before he 
could regain his feet, the horsemen, by a series of dexterous 
manoeuvres, wound him completely up, so that he lay per- 
fectly quiet upon the ground, breathing heavily, and utterly 
unable to extricate his paws from the labyrinth of lassos in 
which he was entangled. One of the riders now gave the 
reins of his horse to another and dismounted. Cautiously 
approaching, with a spare riaia he cast a noose over the 
bear's fore paws, and wound the remaining part tightly 
round the neck, so that what strength might still have been 
left was speedily exhausted by suffocation. This done, an- 
other rider dismounted, and the two succeeded in binding 
their victim so firmly by the paws that it was impossible 
for him to break loose. They next bound his jaws to- 
gether by means of another riata, winding it all the way 
up around his head, upon which they loosened the fastening 
around his neck so as to give him air. When all was se- 
cure, they freed the lassos and again mounted their horses." 
The bear was secured, and subsequently hauled away for 
a grand bull-fight. 

AN AMATEUR SPORTSMAN. 

Although four expert vaqueros might with safety at- 
tempt and succeed in capturing a full-grown grizzly bear, 
yet I should imagine that it would hardly be advisable for 
one or two men to undertake the same feat. 



AN amateur's lasso. 331 

I have heard it stated that a naval officer many years 
ago made the experiment of hunting the animal with the 
lasso, but his success was by no means as decisive as in the 
instance related by Mr, Browne. This officer had, it ap- 
peared, by constant practice upon the ship while making 
the long and tiresome voyage round the Horn, acquired 
very considerable proficiency in the use of the lasso, and 
was able, at twenty or thirty paces, to throw the noose over 
the head of the negro cook at almost every cast. So con- 
fident had he become in his skill, that on his arrival upon 
the coast of Southern California he employed a guide, and, 
mounted upon a well-trained horse, with his lasso properly 
coiled and ready for use, he one morning set out for the 
mountains with the firm resolve of bagging a few grizzlies 
before night. He had not been out a great while before he 
encountered one of the largest specimens of the mighty 
beast, whose terrific aspect amazed him not a little ; but, as 
he had come out with a firm determination to capture a 
grizzly, in direct opposition to the advice of his guide he 
resolved to show him that he was equal to the occasion. 
Accordingly he seized his lasso, and, riding up near the an- 
imal, gave it several rapid whirls above his head in the 
most artistic manner, and sent the noose directly around 
the bear's neck at the very first cast ; but the animal, in- 
stead of taking to his heels and endeavoring to run away 
as he had anticipated, very deliberately sat up on his 
haunches, facing his adversary, and commenced making a 
very careful examination of the rope. He turned his head 
from one side to the other in looking at it ; he felt it with 
his paws, and scrutinized it very closely, as if it was some- 
thing he could not comprehend. In the mean time the 
officer had turned his horse in the opposite direction, and 
commenced applying the rowels to his sides most vigorous- 
ly, with the confident expectation that he was to choke the 



332 ' CATCHING A TARTAR. 

bear to death and drag Mm off in triumph ; but, to his as- 
tonishment, the horse, with his utmost efforts, did not seem 
to advance. The great strain upon the lasso, however, be- 
gan to choke the bear so much that he soon became en- 
raged, and gave the rope several violent slaps, first with one 
paw and then with the other ; but, finding that this did not 
relieve him, he seized the lasso with both paws, and com- 
menced pulling it in hand over hand, or rather paw over 
paw, and bringing with it the horse and rider that were at- 
tached to the opposite extremity. The officer redoubled 
the application of both whip and spurs, but it was all of no 
'avail ; he had evidently " caught a Tartar,", and, in spite 
of all the efforts of his horse, he recoiled rather than ad- 
vanced. At this intensely exciting and critical juncture he 
cast a hasty glance to the rear, and, to his horror, found 
himself steadily backing toward the frightful monster, who 
sat up with his eyes glaring like balls of fire, his huge 
mouth wide open and frothing with rage, and sending forth 
the most terrific and deep-toned roars. He now, for the 
first time, felt seriously alarmed, and cried out vociferously 
for his guide to come to his rescue. The latter responded 
promptly, rode up, cut the lasso, and extricated the ama- 
teur gentleman from his perilous position. He was much 
rejoiced at his escape, and, in reply to the inquiry of the 
guide as to whether he desired to continue the hunt, he said 
it was getting so late that he believed he would capture no 
more grizzlies that day. 

I do not, of course, pretend to vouch for the authenticity 
of the foregoing narrative ; I have merely given it in the 
way it was related to me, as a good story, the truth of 
which the reader can judge of as well as myself. I have 
no doubt, however, that an animal of such extraordinary 
proportions, possessing such enormous development of bone 
and muscle, and whose strength is asserted as sufficient to 



THE BIG-HORN. 333 

enable him to drag off a full-grown buffalo, could compete 
successfully with a California horse in a contest of physical 
powers, I therefore see nothing improbable in the account 
given above. 

THE BIG-HORN. 

The big-horn or mountain sheep, which has a body like 
the deer, with the head of a sheep, surmounted by an enor- 
mous pair of short, heavy horns, is found throughout the 
Eocky Mountains, and resorts to the most inaccessible peaks 
and to the widest and least-frequented glens. It clambers 
over almost perpendicular cliffs with the greatest ease and 
celerity, and skips from rock to rock, cropping the tender 
herbage that grows upon them. 

It has been supposed by some that this animal leaps 
down from crag to crag, lighting upon his horns, as an evi- 
dence of which it has been advanced that the front part of 
the horns is often much battered. This I believe to be er- 
roneous, as it is very common to see horns that have no 
bruises upon them. 

The old mountaineers say they have often seen the bucks 
engaged in desperate encounters with their huge horns, 
which, in striking together, made loud reports. This will 
account for the marks sometimes seen upon them. 

The flesh of the big-horn, when fat, is more tender, juicy, 
and delicious than that of any other animal I know of, but 
it is a hon houclie which will not grace the tables of our city 
epicures until a railroad to the Eocky Mountains affords the 
means of transporting it to a market a thousand miles dis- 
tant from its haunts. 

In its habits the mountain sheep greatly resembles the 
chamois of Switzerland, and it is hunted in the same man- 
ner. The hunter traverses the most inaccessible and broken 
localities, moving along with great caution, as the least un- 



334 BUFFALO. 

usual noise causes them to flit away like a phantom, and 
they will be seen no more. The animal is gregarious, but 
it is seldom that more than eight or ten are found in a 
flock. When not grazing they seek the sheltered sides of 
the mountains, and repose among the rocks. 

BISON OR BUFFALO. 

This largest and most useful animal, that is indigenous to 
this continent, was first seen by Europeans in an individual 
specimen exhibited to Cortez and his followers in a kind of 
menagerie, or zoological collection of Montezuma at Mexico 
in 1521. The animal had been procured in the north, and 
brought here by the natives, to whom the Aztec monarch 
intrusted the collection of rare birds and quadrupeds. 

It was not, however, until the expedition of Coronado 
into New Mexico in 15-11 that the vast ranges of the quad- 
ruped were discovered. The Spanish explorers found none 
throughout the mountainous districts of New Mexico, but 
met with the herds in countless numbers in the prairies east 
of the Del JSTorte, in the region about the South Fork of the 
Arkansas. 

Castenada's narrative has the following: "On Coronado 
went, traversing immense plains, seeing nothing for miles 
together but skies and herds of bison ; hundreds of these 
were killed." 

De Soto, in the same year, met with the buffalo after he 
crossed the Mississippi Eiver, and penetrated into the coun- 
try now embraced within the limits . of Arkansas and Mis- 
souri. De Soto applied the term vaca to the animal, and 
the word hoe.uf was afterward given by the French, which 
merely indicated its identity with the species of our domes- 
tic cattle. Linnaeus gave it the name of bison, in contra- 
distinction to the Asiatic buffalo; but the name by which 
the peculiar species in our country is generally known is 
" buffalo." 



BUFFALO NEAR THE ATLANTIC. 335 

In a work published at Amsterdam in 1637, called " New 
English Canaan," by Thomas Morton, one of the first set- 
tlers of New England, he says: "The Indians have also 
made description of the great heards of well-growne beasts 
that live about the parts of this lake (Erocoise), now Lake 
Champlain, such as the Christian world (until this discov- 
ery) hath not bin made acquainted with. The beasts are 
of the bigness of a coue, their flesh being very good foode, 
their hides good leather, their fleeces very useful, being a 
kind of woole, as fine almost as the woole of the beaver, and 
the salvages do make garments thereof It is tenne yeares 
since first the relation of these things came to the eares of 
the English." 

It is stated by another author (Purchas) that as early as 
in 1613 the adventurers in Virginia discovered a "slow 
kinde of cattell as bigge as kine, which were good meate." 

In a work published in London in 1589, by Hakluyt, it 
is said that in the island of Newfoundland were found 
"mightie beastes, like to camels in greatness, and their 
feete were cloven." He adds : " I did see them farre off, 
not able to descerne them perfectly ; but their steps (tracks) 
showed their feete were cloven, and bigger than the feete of 
camels. I suppose them to be a kind of buffes, which I 
read to bee in the countreys adjacent, and very many in 
the firme land." 

It is supposed by some that these animals may have been 
the musk-ox. They were found by Captain Franklin as 
high as 60° north latitude. I am inclined to doubt this, 
however, as the musk-ox has not, I believe, been found in 
large herds. 

What were formerly the precise limits of the buffalo 
range the history of the early settlement of the country 
does not inform us. That it embraced nearly all that vast 
area lying between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mount- 



336 RANGE OF BUFFALO. 

ains there is abundant evidence to show. They were also 
found in Illinois and Indiana, and extended south as far as 
Ohio and Kentucky ; but there is no record of their having 
ever been seen within the present limits of Florida, although 
it is only a few years since they were abundant in the same 
latitude on the opposite side of the Gulf, in Texas. It is 
but a few years since some of the animals were seen in the 
timbered country near the head of the St. Francis Eiver, in 
Arkansas. They formerly thronged the present area of 
Kentucky, and they were said to have extended their east- 
ern range to the shores of Lake Erie. They were also at 
one time abundant in Southern "Wisconsin, and crossed the 
Mississippi above the Falls of St, Anthony, in Minnesota, 
for the last time, it is believed, in 1820. 

Two buffaloes were killed by the Sioux Indians upon 
the " Trempe a I'Eau," in Upper Wisconsin, in 1832, " and 
they are supposed to have been the last specimens of the 
noble bison which trod, or will ever again tread the soil 
of the region lying east of the Mississippi Eiver" (H. H. 
Sibley). 

If the statements of Morton, Purchas, and Hakluyt are 
to be relied upon, the buffalo formerly extended his wan- 
derings as far east of the Alleghany range as the Atlantic 
Ocean. 

The western limits of the buffalo range at an early period 
are not certainly defined, but they have seldom been seen 
on the western slope of the Eocky Mountains. 

They go into high northern latitudes even to the present 
day, and often pass the winter in the mountainous districts, 
where the snow remains upon the ground during the entire 
winter. Early in the spring of 1858 I found them in the 
mountains at the head of tlie Arkansas and South Platte 
Eivers, and there was every indication that this was their 
permanent abiding-place. It is not more than half a cen- 



DESTRUCTION OF BUFFALOES. 337 

turj since the buffalo thronged in countless multitudes over 
nearly all that vast area included between Mexico and the 
British Possessions. Lewis and Clarke, in descending the 
Missouri in July, 1806, estimated that at one place they be- 
held twenty thousand buffaloes at a single view. At an- 
other place they saw such a multitude of the animals cross- 
ing the river that the stream for a mile was so filled up 
they could not proceed until the herd had passed. 

The buffaloes formerly ranged free and uninterrupted 
over the Great Plains of the West, only guided in their 
course by that faithful instinct which invariably led them 
to the freshest and sweetest pastures. Their only enemy 
then was the Indian, who supplied himself with food and 
clothing from the herds around the door of his lodge, but 
would have looked upon it as sacrilege to destroy more 
than barely sufficient to supply the wants of his family. 
Thus this monarch of the Plains was allowed free range 
from one extremity of the continent to the other. But this 
happy state of things was not destined to continue. With 
the advent of the European an enemy appeared, who made 
war upon them, and the insatiate slaughter inflicted upon 
them by this avaricious stranger in a few years produced a 
very sensible diminution in their numbers, and greatly con- 
tracted the limits of their wanderings. This enemy, in his 
steady advance, also caused the original proprietor of the 
soil to recede before him, and to diminish in numbers al- 
most as rapidly as the buffalo. Thousands of these animals 
were annually slaughtered for their skins, and often for 
their tongues alone ; animals whose flesh is sufficient to af- 
ford sustenance to a large number of men are sacrificed to 
furnish a hon louche for the rich epicure. This wholesale 
slaughter on the part of the white man, with the number 
consumed by th^ Indians, who are constantly on their trail, 
migrating with them as regularly as the season comes 

2F 



338 H. H. Sibley's views. 

round, with the ravenous wolves that are always at hand 
to destroy one of them if wounded, gives the poor beast^ 
but little rest 6r prospect of permanent existence. It is 
only fourteen years since the western borders of Texas 
abounded with buffaloes ; but now they seldom go south of 
Eed Eiver, and their range upon the east and west has also 
very much contracted within the same time, so that they 
are at present confined to a narrow belt of country between 
the outer settlements and the Kocky Mountains. With this 
rapid diminution in their numbers, they must, in the course 
of a very few years, become exterminated. 

In a very interesting paper upon this matter, written by 
the Hon. H. H. Sibley, of Minnesota, who is himself an ex- 
cellent sportsman, and perfectly well acquainted with the 
subject upon which he treats, I find the following: 

" The multitudes of these animals (buffaloes) which have 
hitherto darkened the surface of the great prairies on the 
west of the 'Father of Waters' are fast wasting away under 
the fierce assaults made upon them by the white man as 
well as the savage. From data which, although "not mathe- 
matically correct, are sufficiently so to enable us to arrive 
at conclusions approximating the truth, it has been esti- 
mated that for each buff\\lo robe transported from the In- 
dian country at least five animals are destroyed. If it be 
borne in mind that very few robes are manufactured of the 
hides of bufi^alo, except of such as, in hunter's parlance, are 
killed when they are in season — that is, during the months 
of November, December, and January, and that even of 
these a large proportion are not used for that purpose, and 
also that the skins of cows are principally converted into 
robes, those of the males being too thick and heavy to be 
easily reduced by the ordinary process of scraping, togeth- 
er with the fact that many thousands are annually destroy- 
ed through sheer wantonness by civilized as well as savage 



KANGE OF BUFFALO. 339 

men, it will be found that the foregoing estimate is a mod- 
erate one. From the Missouri region, the number of robes 
received varies from 40,000 to 100,000 per annum, so that 
from a quarter to half a million of buffalo are destroyed in 
the period of each twelve months. So enormous a drain 
must soon result in the extermination of the whole race ; 
and it may be asserted with certainty that in twenty years 
from this time, the buffalo, if existing at all, will be only 
found in the wildest recesses of the Eocky Mountains. The 
savage bands of the West, whose progenitors have from 
time immemorial depended mainly upon the buffalo, must, 
with them, disappear from the earth, unless they resort to 
other means of subsistence, under the fostering care of the 
general government." 

The traveler, in crossing the Plains from Texas or Ar- 
kansas, through Southern New Mexico to CaHfornia, does 
not, at the present day, encounter the buffalo. Upon the 
direct route from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe they are 
almost invariably met with between the 99th and 102d 
meridians of longitude, and they are often seen upon the 
South Platte, along the road from St. Joseph to Denver 
and Fort Laramie, in the vicinity of Fort Kearney. 

In 1859 I passed across from the Missouri River at Fort 
Randall to Fort Jjaramie, a distance of three hundred and 
sixty miles, over a country that has very seldom been trav- 
eled by a white man, and, to my surprise,! did not see a 
buffalo, and there was no indication of their having been 
upon the immediate track I followed for three years. They 
are rapidly disappearing, and a very few years will, at the 
present rate of destruction, be sufficient to exterminate the 
species. 

There are two methods generally practiced in hunting 
the buffalo, viz., running them on horseback, and stalking, 
or still hunting. The first method requires a sure-footed 



340 BUFFALO CHASING. 

and tolerably fleet horse that is not easily frightened. The 
buffalo cow, which makes much better beef than the bull, 
when pursued by the hunter runs rapidly, and, unless the 
horse be fleet, it requires a long and exhausting chase to 
overtake her. 

When the buffaloes are discovered, and the hunter intends 
to give chase, he should first dismount, arrange his saddle- 
blanket and saddle, buckle the girth tight, and make every 
thing about his horse furniture snug and secure. He should 
then put his arms in good firing order, and, taking the lee 
side of the herd, so that they may not get " the ivincV^ of him, 
he should approach in a walk as close as possible, taking 
advantage of any cover that may offer. His horse then, 
being cool and fresh, will be able to dash into the herd, and 
probably carry his rider very near the animal he has select- 
ed before he becomes alarmed. 

If the hunter be right-handed, and uses a pistol, he should 
approach upon the left side, and when nearly opposite and 
close upon the buffalo, deliver his shot, taking aim a little 
below the centre of the body, and about eight inches back 
of the shoulder. This will strike the vitals, and generally 
render another shot unnecessary. 

When a rifle or shot-gun is used the hunter rides up on 
the right side, keeping his horse well in tand, so as to be 
able to turn off if the beast charges upon him ; this, howev- 
er, never hapjDcns except with a buffalo that is wounded, 
when it is advisable to keep out of his reach. 

The buffalo has immense powers of endurance, and will 
run for many miles without any apparent effort or diminu- 
tion in speed. The first buffalo I ever saw I followed about 
ten miles, and when I left him he seemed to run faster than 
when the chase commenced. 

As a long buffalo - chase is very severe labor upon a 
horse, I would recommend to all travelers, unless they have 



STALKING. 341 

a good (leal of surplus horse -flesb, never to expend it in 
this sport. 

Still hunting, which requires no consumption of horse- 
flesh, and is equally successful with the other method, is rec- 
ommended. In stalking on horseback, the most broken 
and hilly localities should be selected, as these will furnish 
cover to the hunter, who passes from the crest of one hill to 
another, examining the country carefully in all directions. 
When the game is discovered, if it happen to be on the lee 
side, the hunter should endeavor, by making a wide detour^ 
to get upon the opposite side, as he will find it impossible 
to approach within rifle range with the wind. 

When the animal is upon a hill, or in any other position 
where he can not be approached without danger of disturb- 
ing him, the hunter should wait until he moves off to more 
favorable ground, and this will not generally require much 
time, as they wander about a great deal when not grazing ; 
he then pickets his horse, and approaches cautiously, seek- 
ing tp screen himself as much as possible by the undula- 
tions in the surface, or behind such other objects as may pre- 
sent themselves ; but if the surface should offer no cover, 
he must crawl upon his hands and knees when near the 
game, and in this way he can generally get within rifle 
range. 

Should there be several animals together, and his first 
shot take effect, the hunter can often get several other shots 
before they become frightened. A Delaware Indian and 
myself once killed five buffaloes out of a small herd before 
the remainder were so much disturbed as to move away. 
Although we were within the short distance of twenty yards, 
yet the reports of our rifles did not frighten them in the 
least, and they continued grazing during all the time we 
were loading and firing. 

The sense of smelling is exceedingly acute with the buf- 

2F* - 



342 HAZARDOUS HUNTING. 

falo, and tbej will take the wind from the hunter at as 
great a distance as a mile. 

When the animal is wounded, and stops, it is better not 
to go near him until he lies down, as he will often run a 
great distance if disturbed ; but if left to himself, will in 
many cases die in a short time. 

When buffaloes are grazing upon an open flat prairie 
where the grass is short, affording no cover, the Indians 
stalk them by covering themselves with a light-colored 
blanket, and crawling along the ground on their hands and 
knees to the leeward of the herd, and at the same time 
dragging their guns or bows and arrows along with them. 
If proper caution is used, they are thus enabled to reach 
the desired proximity, and may even approach directly into 
the midst of the herds without giving alarm. 

It very rarely happens that there is any danger resulting 
from this method of approach unless the hunter by a care- 
less shot gives an animal a slight flesh-wound, which only 
tends to irritate him. Instances have occurred under such 
circumstances when the hunter's life has been exposed to 
imminent jeopardy. I once knew a case of this kind in 
which an experienced buffalo-hunter was pursued by a 
young bull for- several hundred yards, and he only effected 
his escape by passing over an elevated swell in the prairie 
and hiding in some tall grass which he was so fortunate as 
to find at this critical juncture. The buffalo, on reaching 
the top of the eminence, cast a glance around, but, not dis- 
covering his adversary, abandoned the pursuit and walked 
away in another direction. 

When a man on foot is pursued by a buffalo, if he will 
drop some object, such as his coat, hat, or other article of 
dress, this will often divert the animal's attention, and he 
will stop and vent his rage upon it, thus giving the hunter 
time to get out of danger. 



LOSING HORSES. 843 

When a herd of buflfalo is pursued they generally run in 
a solid mass, keeping close together, but with the cows near 
the front and inside, so that it is necessary, in order to reach 
them, to penetrate the dense phalanx of bulls occupying 
the outside. This may be done by riding along with the 
herd and gradually inclining toward the centre as openings 
present themselves ; this, however, is a feat attended with 
some hazard, and should not be attempted by any one with- 
out a well-trained and sure-footed horse, as, in the event of 
being unhorsed, the hunter would inevitably be trampled to 
pieces under the feet of the buflfalo. 

It is dangerous to chase a herd of buflfalo when they raise 
such a dust as to make it difl&cult to see them or to judge 
accurately of their position. 

The hunter should never leave his horse near a herd of 
buflfalo without tying him, as horses will often start off with 
the buflfalo, and are sometimes irretrievably lost in this 
way. One of our officers, en route to Utah, jumped from 
his horse, and, leaving him without tying, ran forward to 
shoot a buflfalo, when, much to his astonishment, his horse 
suddenly took to his heels, joined the fleeing herd with sad- 
dle, bridle, and other accoutrements, continued with it far 
over the prairies out of sight, and has not, I believe, been 
heard from since. 

The tongues, humps, and marrow-bones are regarded as 
the choice parts of the animal. The tongue is taken out bv 
ripping open the skin between the prongs of the lower jaw- 
bone, and pulling it out through the orifice. The hump 
may be taken off by skinning down on each side of the 
shoulders and cutting away the meat, after which the hump 
ribs can be unjointed where they unite with the spine. 
The marrow, when roasted in the bones, is delicious. 

My friend, General Sibley, in the interesting paper before 



344 BOW AND ARROW. 

alluded to, makes some pertinent remarks upon the buffalo 
chase, from which I take the liberty of quoting the fol- 
lowing : 

" The chase of the buffalo on horseback is highly excit- 
ing, and by no means unattended with danger. The in- 
stinct of that animal leads him, when pursued, to select the 
most broken and difficult ground over which to direct his 
flight, so that many accidents occur to horse and rider from 
falls, which result in death, or dislocation of the limbs of 
one or both. When wounded, or too closely pressed, the 
buffalo will turn upon his antagonist, and not infrequently 
the latter becomes the victim in the conflict, meeting his 
death upon the sharp horns of an infuriated bull. 

"In common with the moose, the elk, and others of the 
same family. Nature has furnished the buffalo with exquisite 
powers of scent, upon which he principally relies for warn- 
ing against danger. The inexperienced voyager will often 
be surprised to perceive the dense masses of these cattle 
urging their rapid flight across the prairie, at a distance of 
two or three miles, without any apparent cause of alarm, 
unaware, as he is, of the fact that the tainted breeze has be- 
trayed to them his presence while still far away. 

" The bow and arrow, in experienced hands, constitute 
quite as eflEicient a weapon in the chase of the buffalo as the 
fire-arm, from the greater rapidity with which the discharges 
are made, and the almost equal certainty of execution. The 
force with which an arrow is propelled from a bow, wielded 
by an Indian of far less than the ordinary physical strength 
of white men, is amazing. It is generally imbedded to the 
feather in the buffalo, and sometimes eveji protrudes on the 
opposite side. It is reported among the Dacotahs or Sioux 
Indians, and generally credited by them, that one of their 
chiefs, Wah-na-tah by name, who was remarkable, up to 
the close of his life, for strength and activity of frame, and 



WINTER HUNTING. 345 

who was equally renowned as a hunter and warrior, on one 
occasion discharged an arrow with sufficient force entirely 
to traverse the body of a female buffiilo, and to kill the calf 
by her side. For the accuracy of this statement I do not, 
of course, pretend to vouch. The arrow is launched from 
the bow while the body of the- victim is elongated in mak- 
ing his forward spring, and the ribs, being then separated 
from each other as far as possible, allow an easy entrance 
to the missile between them. 

" The same instant is taken advantage of by such of the 
Western Indians as make use of long lances wherewith to 
destroy the buffalo. Approaching sufficiently near to the 
particular cow he has selected for his prey, the hunter al- 
lows the weapon to descend and rest upon her back, which 
causes her at first to make violent efforts to dislodge it. 
After a few trials the poor beast becomes accustomed to the 
touch, and ceases farther to notice it in her great anxiety to 
escape from her pursuer, who then, by a dexterous and 
powerful thrust, sheathes the long and sharp blade into 
her vitals, and withdraws it before the animal falls to the 
ground. This mode of slaughter is successful only with 
those who have fleet and well-trained horses, and who have 
perfect reliance upon their own coolness and skill. 

" When the alternate thawing and freezing during the 
winter months have formed a thick crust upon the deep 
snows of the far Northwest, the buffalo falls an easy victim 
to the Indian, who glides rapidly over the surface upon his 
snow-shoes, while the former finds his powers of locomotion 
almost paralyzed by the breaking of the icy crust beneath 
his ponderous weight. He can then be approached with 
absolute impunity, and dispatched with the gun, the arrow, 
or the lance. 

"It sometimes happens that a whole herd is surrounded 
and driven upon the clear ice of a lake, in which case they 



346 HYBRIDS. 

spread out and fall powerless, to be mercilessly massacred 
by their savage pursuers. It is a well-known fact that, sev- 
eral years since, nearly a hundred buftaloes attempted to 
cross Lac qui Parle^ in Minnesota, upon the ice, which, not 
being sufficiently strong to bear so enormous a pressure, 
gave way, and the whole number miserably perished. The 
meat furnished a supply of food for many weeks to the 
people at the neighboring trading-post, as well as to the In- 
dians, and to the wolves and foxes. 

"In the northern part of Minnesota, on both sides of the 
line dividing the United States from the British Posses- 
sions, there is to be found a large population, consisting 
mostly of mixed bloods. These men possess, in an emi- 
nent degree, the physical energy and powers of endurance 
of the white man, combined with the activity, subtlety, and 
skill in hunting of the Indian. They are fine horsemen, 
and remarkably dexterous in the chase of the bufialo. 
Half farmer and half hunter, they till the ground, and raise 
fine crops of wheat and other cereals, while semi-annually 
they repair to the buffalo region to procure meat, which 
they cure in divers ways, and dispose of to our own citizens, 
and to the Hudson Bay Company for the supply of their 
inland trading-posts. Being numerous, and well supplied 
with horses, oxen, and carts, the number of buffaloes annu- 
ally slaughtered by them is astonishing." 

It has been thought by many persons that the bufialo 
would cross with the domestic cattle, and I have several 
times seen domestic animals upon the frontier which were 
said to have been hybrids of the two species of the Bos 
family, but I am very firm in the belief that there are no 
properly authenticated instances where these animals have 
bred together. A trader among the Chickasaws collected 
about forty buffalo some years since, and, although they 
were herded with his domestic cattle for two years, he in- 
formed me that they never crossed. 



WONDERFUL SAGACITY. 347 



THE BEAVER. 

I know of no animal concerning which the accounts of 
travelers have been more extraordinary, more marvelous 
or contradictory, than those given of the beaver. 

By some he has been elevated in point of intellect almost 
to a level with man. He has been said, for instance, to con- 
struct houses with several floors and rooms ; to plaster the 
rooms with mud in such a manner as to make smooth walls, 
and to drive stakes of six or eight inches in diameter into 
the ground, and to perform many other astounding feats, 
which I am induced to believe are not supported by credi- 
ble testimony. 

Laying aside these questionable statements, there is quite 
sufficient in the true natural history of the animal to excite 
our wonder and admiration. 

On the 12th of June, 1852, 1 encamped upon a small 
tributary of the North Fork of Eed Eiver, near where a 
community of beavers had just completed the construction 
of a new dam. 

Upon an examination of their works, we were both as- 
tonished and delighted at the wonderful sagacity, skill, and 
perseverance which they displayed. 

In the selection of a suitable site, and in the erection of 
the structure, they appeared to have been guided by some- 
thing more than mere animal instinct, and exhibited as cor- 
rect a knowledge of hydrostatics, and the action of forces 
resulting from currents of water, as the most scientific mill- 
wright would have done. 

Having chosen a spot where the creek was narrow, and 
the banks on each side sufficiently high to raise a head of 
about five feet, they selected two cottonwood-trees some 
fifteen inches in diameter, situated above this point, and 
having an inclination toward the stream ; these they cut 



3^8 BEAVER DAM. 

down with their teeth (as the marks upon the stumps plain- 
ly showed), and, floating them down to the position for the 
dam, they were placed across the stream with an inclination 
downward, the butt ends uniting in the centre. These con- 
stituted the foundation upon which the superstructure of 
brush and earth was placed, in precisely the same manner 
as a brush dam is built by our millwrights, with the bushes 
and earth alternating and packed closely, the butts in all 
cases turned down the stream. 

After this was raised to a sufiicient height, the top was 
covered with earth except in the centre, where there was 
a sluice or waste-wier to let off the superfluous water when 
the creelc rose so high as to endanger the structure. In 
examining the results of the operations of these ingenious 
quadrupeds, it occurred to me that the plan of constructing 
our brush dams may have been originally suggested by 
witnessing those made by the beavers, as they are so very 
much alike, 

I observed at one place above the pond where they had 
commenced another dam., and had progressed so far as to 
cut down two trees on opposite sides of the creek ; but as 
they did not fall in the right direction to suit their pur- 
poses, the work was abandoned. 

During the month of April, 1858,1 found upon one of the 
head branches of the South Platte Eiver, in the mountains 
near Pike's Peak, a place where the beavers had dammed 
the creek for three miles in such a manner as to form a 
continuous succession of ponds or slack- water for the entire 
distance. There were a large number of dams, and all in 
good repair, which, with the stumps of the freshly-cut wil- 
lows, showed conclusively that there were an immense 
number of the animals there ; yet, although we were upon 
the creek for several hours, we did not see one of them. 
They are exceedmgly timid and shy, and at the slightest 



PET BEAVER. 349 

noise take alarm and hide themselves in their houses, the 
entrance to which are hidden beneath the surface of the 
water. 

The only way they can be seen is to lay concealed and 
quiet near their dams about sunset, when they will come 
out to work or play, and in this manner they are often 
killed by the hunters. 

A friend of mine related to me an amusing incident con- 
nected with a pet beaver which he had caught when he 
was quite young, and raised. 

He was in the habit of leaving him in his cabin, with the 
door fastened, while he visited his traps. 

Upon one of these occasions, he found on his return that 
the beaver had accidentally upset the water-bucket, and, 
seeing the stream running down the floor, he had attempted 
to make a dam to stop it. All the tables, benches, blank- 
ets, skins, and every thing else movable in the cabin had 
been piled across the floor in the vain effort of the animal 
to prevent the escape of his favorite element. 

PRAIRIE DOG. 

This interesting and gregarious little specimen of the 
mammalia of our country is indigenous to the most of our 
far Western prairies, from Mexico to the northern limits of 
our possessions, and has often been described by those who 
have traveled on the Plains ; but as there are some facts 
in relation to their habits that I have never seen mentioned 
in any published account of them, I trust I shall be pardon- 
ed if I add a few remarks to what has already been said. 

In the selection of a site or position for their towns, they 
appear to have special reference to their food, which is a 
species of short, wiry grass, and a variety of cactus growing 
upon the Plains, where there is often no water near; in- 
deed, I have sometimes seen their towns upon the elevated 

2 G 



350 HIBERNATING. 

table-lands of New Mexico, where there was no water upon 
the surface of the ground within twenty miles, and where 
it could not probably have been found by excavating a 
hundred feet. This fact has induced me to believe that 
they do not require that element, without which most oth- 
er animals perish in a short time. 

As there are generally no rains or dews during the sum- 
mer months where these dog communities are found, and 
as the animals never wander far from home, I think I am 
warranted in coming to the conclusion that they require no 
water beyond what the grass affords. That they hiber- 
nate, passing the winter in a lethargic or torpid state, is ev- 
ident from the fact that they lay up no sustenance for the 
winter, and that the grass in the vicinity of their burrows 
dries up in the autumn ; the earth freezes hard, and renders 
it utterly impossible for them to procure food in the usual 
manner. 

When the prairie dog first feels the approach of the 
sleeping season (generally about the last days of October), 
he closes all the passages to his dormitory, to exclude the 
cold air, and betakes himself to his brumal slumber with 
the greatest possible regularity and care. He remains 
housed until the warm daj^s of spring, when he removes 
the obstructions from his door, and again appears above 
ground as lively and frolicsome as ever. I have been in- 
formed by the Indians that a short time before a cold 
storm in the autuma all the prairie dogs may be seen in- 
dustriously occupied with weeds and earth closing the en- 
trances to their burrows. They are sometimes, however, 
observed reopening them while the weather is still cold and 
stormy, but mild and pleasant weather is always certain to 
follow. It appears, therefore, that instinct teaches the little 
quadruped when to expect good or bad weather, and to 
make his arrangements accordingly. 



LARGE TOWN. 351 

In passing throngb. their villages the traveler is often 
obliged to turn out of his course to avoid the mounds of 
earth thrown up around their holes. The animals are seen 
in countless numbers sitting upright at the mouths of their 
domicils, and presenting in the distance very much the ap- 
pearance of the stumps of small trees ; and so incessant is 
the clatter of their barking, that it requires but little effort 
of the imagination to fancy one's self surrounded by the 
busy hum of a city. 

The immense numbers of these animals in some of these 
towns or warrens may be conjectured from the large area 
which they cover. 

One near the head of Eed Eiver which we passed was 
about thirty miles long. Supposing its dimensions in other 
directions to have been the same, it would have embraced 
a space of six hundred and twenty -five square miles, or 
eight hundred and ninety-six thousand acres. Estimating 
the burrows to have been twenty yards apart, and each 
family containing four or five dogs, the aggregate popula- 
tion would have excelled in numbers any city of the uni- 
verse. 

A species of small owl, about the size of a quail, is fre- 
quently found in the mouths of the burrows occupied by 
the dogs, whether for the purpose of procuring food, or for 
some other object, I do not know. They do not, however, 
as some have asserted, burrow with the dogs ; and when ap- 
proached, instead of entering the holes, they invariably fly 
away. 

It has also been said that the rattlesnake is a constant 
companion of the prairie dog; but this is a mistake, for I 
have sometimes passed for days through their towns with- 
out seeing one. They are, however, often met with in the 
burrows with the dogs, and for this reason it has been sup- 
posed by some that they were welcome guests with the pro- 



352 HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 

prietors of the establishments; but we have satisfied our- 
selves that this is a domestic arrangement entirely at vari- 
ance with the wishes of the dogs, as the snakes prey upon 
them, and consequently must be considered as intruders. 
One snake which we killed was found to have swallowed a 
full-grown dog. 

When the prairie dog is full grown he is of a light brown 
color, about the size of a gray rabbit, with a bushy tail 
some four inches long, and shaped very much like a young 
bull pup. 

HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. 

To those persons who are desirous of participating in the 
exciting amusement of a buffalo chase, and doubtless there 
are many such, a few words in regard to the most comfort- 
able and expeditious routes for reaching the localities where 
the animals can with certainty be met with will not be 
amiss in this connection. I have known several English 
sportsmen who crossed the Atlantic for no other purpose 
but that of enjoying the pleasures of a buffalo hunt, who, 
on their arrival, seemed to be impressed with the idea that 
the best, if not, indeed, the only route to the hunting- 
grounds was by St. Paul, and thence to the Red River of 
the North. This is a very erroneous notion, as it is seldom 
that buffalo are found within four or five hundred miles of 
St. Paul ; besides, in the section of country west of Red 
River, the ranges of the buffalo are so variable and uncer- 
tain that it is seldom they can be found two consecutive 
seasons in the same eastern localities, the courses taken by. 
the herds from year to year depending in a great measure 
on the way they are driven by the Indians, and upon other 
circumstances contingent upon grass, water, etc., which are 
without the scope of anticipation or previous calculation. 
This, however, is not the case in the direction of New Mex- 



STARTING-POINT. 353 

ico and Colorado, where the ranges are more uniform and 
reliable. 

A party leaving New York City can by rail reach the 
Missouri Eiver at St. Joseph or Atcheson in less than three 
days, and from thence the overland stages will, in three or 
four days more, carry them with absolute certainty near 
the buffalo on either the Fort Kearney or Fort Riley routes. 
At these forts the most accessible hunting localities can be 
ascertained, and some of the officers, or other persons who 
are acquainted with the country, will generally be found 
ready to join the hunt. 

Should the aspirations of any of our Eastern sportsmen 
induce them to venture an encounter with the grizzly bear, 
they will, unless they go to the Pacific or ascend the Mis- 
souri River very high, be obliged to travel a long distance 
over the Plains in order to accomplish the object. In 1858 
these animals were abundant about the head waters of the 
Arkansas and Platte Rivers, and they were often seen in 
the vicinity of Pike's Peak and the present site of Denver 
City ; but as that country has been so much frequented and 
settled since I visited it, I doubt if many are left there at 
the present time. The Black Hills, in the neighborhood of 
Fort Laramie, I should regard as the most likely place for 
finding the animal now. 

From the Missouri River at Atcheson or Leavenworth to 
Fort Laramie is about seven hundred miles, but the road is 
excellent, and the grass, wood, and water are abundant upon 
the entire route. While the Indians remain hostile it would 
not, of course, be safe for a small party to venture into that 
section for pleasure ; but, after the Indian difficulties are 
terminated, I know of no summer excursion that would be 
more delightful or conducive to health than for a party of 
gentlemen, who are fond of shooting and excitement, to 
start out from the Missouri River with their own transpor- 

2G* 



354 HEALTH ON THE PRAIRIES. 

tation and camping arrangements, passing through the buf- 
falo range south of Fort Kearney, and along the North 
Platte Eiver to the Black Hills, thence turning south, 
skirting the eastern base ol the mountains, crossing the 
head waters of the Laramie and other branches of the 
Platte Eiver, and through the Parks to Denver City; re- 
turning home by the Arkansas or the Republican Fork of 
the Kansas, upon either of which routes buffalo are always 
found. Nothing can be imagined more pure, elastic, and 
invigorating than the summer atmosphere in the country 
that would be traversed in this way. The climate of the 
plains 'and the mountains is of so salubrious a character, 
that invalids, whose healths have been seriously impaired 
by sedentary occupations in the damp, changeable, and foul 
atmosphere of our crowded cities, often derive great benefit 
from it, and are rapidly restored to perfect health. Several 
cases of this character have come under my own observa- 
tion, one of which was a gentleman of New York City, who 
had for several years been suffering from a complication 
of complaints that kept him almost continually in the hands 
of the physicians, without any apparent prospect of restora- 
tion to health. He accompanied me for four months upon 
the Plains, and returned home entirely free from disease, 
and has been hale, hearty, and robust ever since. He has 
"thrown physic to the dogs," and the doctors have lost one 
of their very best patrons. 

Besides the grizzly bears that would be found upon the 
route I have indicated, elk, black-tailed deer, antelope, and 
occasionally mountain sheep will be met with in the vicin- 
ity of the mountains. 

The most favorable season of the year for leaving the 
Missouri River is about the middle of May. The grass 
then affords good pasturage for animals, the roads are dry 
and firm, and the temperature is mild and agreeable. 



OUTFIT. 355 

An outfit of wagons, teams, and other requisites for the 
expedition can be procured at reasonable rates at St. Jo- 
seph, Atcheson, Leavenworth City, and at other points of 
departure on the Missouri Eiver. A guide who knows 
the country is indispensable, especially after reaching the 
mountains, and one such can generally be found at the 
places mentioned. 



356 PIONEERS OF THE WEST. 



CHAPTER XII. 

PIONEERS OF THE WEST. •» 

Pioneers of the West. — Frontier Settlers. — Night at a Log Cabin. — Eflects 
of drinking Mint Juleps. — A young Cadet's Arrival at West Point. — Prai- 
rie Belle. — Texas Surveyor. — Dinner in Arkansas. — Night in Arkansas. 
— New Use of Tea. — Yankee Curiosity illustrated. — Propensity for roam- 
ing. — Meeting a Fellow-statesman in Mexico. — An old Acquaintance. — 
Southern Curiosity. — Virginia Hospitality. — Perversion of the English 
Language. — Arrival in the Settlements in 1849. — A Texas Clergyman's 
Experience. — Frontier Settlers of Texas. — Major Neighbors's Experience. 
— The Six-man Team. — Texas Volunteers. — Recuperative Character of 
the Frontiersman illustrated. 

The object I have in view in the following pages is to 
contribute something, in as attractive and reliable a form as 
I am able, to perpetuate th^ true characteristics of the fron- 
tiersman, the greater part of which I have obtained from 
long personal intercourse and observation. My sketches 
may perhaps be regarded as crude and unfinished, but, so 
far as they extend, they may be relied on as faithful repre- 
sentations of real existing specimens, and without any col- 
oring of romance. 

It may be thought by some that I am endowed with a 
more vivid conception of the ludicrous and mirthful than 
is desirable in the character of a historian or a biographer ; 
indeed, I am rather inclined to this opinion myself. The 
farcical always possessed far greater attractions for me than 
the tragic ; in fact, I may say that tragedy is my abhor- 
rence. I seldom read the newspaper accounts of horrible 
murders ; and when I visit a theatre, it is not for the pur- 
pose of getting my feelings wrought up to the crying pitch, 



FRONTIER SETTLERS. 357 

but I go there for the express object of indulging in a good 
hearty laugh. The ordinary every-day affairs of life have 
enough commingling of tragedy to answer my aspirations, 
without the necessity of paying for a box in which to un- 
dergo three hours' agony and torture from listening to a 
mock representation of it. Let it not, therefore, surprise 
the reader if he should find that in the following illustra- 
tions I have drawn largely from the comic elements in the 
characters of the classes represented. 

FRONTIER SETTLERS. 

The ideas, habits, and language of the population upon 
the borders of Arkansas and Texas are eminently peculiar, 
and very different from those of any other people I have 
ever before met with in my travels; they seem to consti- 
tute an anomalous and detached element in our social 
structure. Their sparsely scattered forest habitations, be- 
ing far removed from towns or villages, and seldom visit- 
ed by travelers, almost entirely exclude them from inter- 
course with the civilized world, and they are nearly as ig- 
norant of what is transpiring outside their own immediate 
sphere as the savages themselves. They seldom or never 
see a newspaper, and could not read it if they did ; and I 
honestly believe that many of them could not tell whether 
General Jackson, Mr. Lincoln, or Mr. Johnson is President 
of the United States at the present time. 

Some of the most salient traits in the character of this 
singular type of the Anglo-Saxon race have been exhibited 
in a conspicuous light among the specimens I have encoun- 
tered upon the frontier, and I now propose to introduce 
some of them to the notice of the reader. 

I remember, upon one occasion, after riding all day 
through a dense forest region in Northwestern Texas, in 
the winter of 1850-1, without the slightest indication of a 



358 A TEXAN HOSTESS. 

road or even trail to guide me, and during a severe storm 
of snow and rain, and without having met with a single hu- 
man being during the entire day, that I suddenly came out 
into a small clearing, in the centre of which was a very di- 
minutive log cabin, from whence arose a cheerful smoke, in- 
dicating the presence of occupants. This was a very pleas- 
ant surprise to me, as I had confidently calculated on being 
obliged to bivouac for the night alone in the woods, and 
this, during such a cold storm, would have been any thing 
but agreeable. I therefore gladly turned my jaded horse 
toward the hut, and, on my approach, a woman, some half 
a dozen children, and about as many dogs emerged there- 
from. 

After passing the customary salutations of the country, 
and exchanging particular inquiries as to the past and pres- 
ent condition of each other's health, I begged to inquire if 
I could be accommodated with lodgings for the night, to 
which the woman very obligingly replied, "Wall, now, 
stranger, my ole man he ar out on a bar track, but I sort-o- 
reckon maybe you mought git to stay ;" she, however, for 
my consideration, added "that thar war narry show of 
vittles in the house barrin some sweet taters and a small 
chance of corn." As I was very hungry, and did not feel 
disposed to put up with such meagre fare, I dismounted, 
tied my horse, took my rifle, and went out into the woods 
in quest of something more substantial for supper, and for- 
tunately had not gone far before I succeeded in killing a 
deer, which I packed to the house, and, by the aid of my 
" couieau de chasse,^^ soon had nicely dressed. My hostess and 
the children seemed highly delighted at my success, as they 
had seen no meat for several days, and the old lady com- 
plimented me by asking "what my name mought be ;" 
and upon my informing her that it was Marcy, she said 
" she knowd a heap o' Massys down in ole Mctssasip,^^ and 



NARROW QUARTERS. 359 

that " me an him (Davy, her husband) allers 'lowed that 
them thar Massys was considdible on bar and other var- 
mints." She then told me, if I would grind some corn in a 
cofifee-mill which was fastened against the corner of the 
house, that she would bake a poen for me. Accordingly, I 
set to work, and, after about half an hour's steady applica- 
tion, succeeded in producing from the rickety old machine 
about a quart of meal, which was speedily converted into 
a cake. This, with some of the ribs of the fat venison well 
roasted, and a cup of good coffee produced from my saddle- 
bags, made a most substantial and excellent supper. After 
this was over I lighted my pipe, and, seating myself before 
the cheerful log fire, for the first time since my arrival took 
a survey of the establishment. 

It consisted of one room about fourteen feet square, with 
the intervals between the logs not cliinhed, and wide enough 
in places to allow the dogs to pass in and out at their pleas- 
ure. There was an opening for the door, which was closed 
with a greasy old beef's hide, but there were no windows, 
and no floor excepting the native earth. The household 
furniture consisted of two small benches of the most primi- 
tive construction imaginable, and two bedsteads, each made 
by driving four forked stakes into the ground, across which 
poles were placed, and then covered transversely by flour- 
barrel staves, the whole structure surmounted by a sack of 
prairie hay, upon which I observed the remains of an 
antiquated coverlid that had evidently seen much service. 
The table furniture consisted of one tin milk-pan, three tin 
cups, two knives and three forks, two of the latter having 
but one prong each. The tout ensemble gave every indica- 
tion of the most abject destitution and poverty ; indeed, the 
hostess informed me that she had not, previous to my ar- 
rival, tasted sugar, tea, or coffee for three months ; yet, as 
strange as it may appear, she seemed entirely contented 



860 BED AND BOARD. 

with her situation, and considered herself about as well to 
do in the world as the most of her neighbors. She had 
emigrated to this remote and solitary spot from Mississippi 
about two years previously, and not the slightest trace of a 
road or trail had since been made leading to the locality 
from any direction, and she informed me that her nearest 
neighbor was some fifteen miles distant. 

Upon her remarking that her husband was occasionally 
absent for several days at a time, I inquired if she was not 
afraid to stay alone in this wild, out-of-the-way place. She 
said "No; that when Davy was away the dogs kept the 
varmints ofip, and that mighty few humans ever com'd that- 
a-way." 

After finishing my pipe, and getting my clothes well 
dried, and feeling quite fatigued and sleepy, I asked the 
woman where I should sleep. She replied, " Stranger, you 
take that thar bed with the boys, and I'll take this yere 
with the gals." 

Now the width of the bed indicated for my use was 
measured with a flour-barrel stave, and was already occu- 
pied by three boys, two on the back side and one at the 
foot. It therefore became a question of some considerable 
interest to me as to how I should manage to stow myself 
away in such contracted quarters, especially in view of the 
fact that my longitudinal meridian was some twelve inches 
greater than the space allotted me. Nevertheless, as I was 
not very exclusive or particular in my notions, I turned in, 
and for some time tried to sleep, but my position between 
the three bedfellows was so much cramped and distorted 
that I found it impossible to get any repose. I did not, 
however, like the idea of disturbing the boys, but the case 
seemed to me a desperate one : I must have some sleep', and 
the only alternative, under the circumstances, was to make 
the effort to secure a greater area ; I therefore very quietly 



WRITING A LETTER. 361 

administered a pinch upon my nearest juvenile neighbor, 
who was sound asleep, which caused him to scream most 
lustily. His mother, probably thinking that he was dream- 
ing, or suddenly taken with the nightmare, called out from 
the other bed, "Now, Dave, ef yer don't get shut o' that thar 
yellin, yer'l wake up the stranger." This admonition qui- 
eted him for a while, but as soon as he was asleep again I 
gave him another sharp pinch, which made him cry out 
more vociferously than before, while at the same time T 
was exerting my utmost efforts in giving a good imitation 
of the loftiest pitch of snoring. The mother then got up, 
came to our bed, and shaking the boy, told him "ef he 
didn't dry up that hollerin she woodn't 'low him to sleep 
'long wi-th the stranger no more, no how." Another well- 
timed and vigorous pinch, as soon as he had fallen asleep 
the third time, accomplished my object. He was taken up ; 
but, as his mother was lifting the pugnacious young gentle- 
man out of the bed, he had become so fully sensible of 
what was passing that he began to suspect I had something 
to do with his disturbance, and hit me quite a severe blow 
in the side with his hard little fist. I, however, after this 
episode, slept soundly till morning. 

Before I left the house my hostess inquired of me if I 
knew how to write ; and, upon learning that my education 
had extended that far, she desired me to act as her amanu- 
ensis, while she dictated a letter to a friend " way down in 
ole Massasip." Having a pencil and some old letters in my 
pocket, I told her I would take down what she desired to 
communicate, copy it in ink on ray return to the fort, and 
send it for her through the post, which seemed to give her 
great pleasure ; whereupon I seated myself, and asked her 
what she wished me to write. She said : 

" Tell um, stranger, thar's narry fever-n'agur down this- 
a-way." 

2H 



362 TAKING A CHAR. 

" Very well," I said, " that is down ; what shall I say 
next?" 

" Tell um, stranger, Davy lie raised a powerful heap o' 
corn and taters this year." 

"Yes," I said; "what next?" 

"Tell um, stranger, thar's a mighty smart chance o' var- 
mints in these yere diggins." 

And thus she went on throughout the entire letter, which 
she " 'lowed was a peart hand write." I transcribed it lit- 
erally in her own words on my return home, and forward- 
ed it to its destination in Mississippi, and I sincerely hope 
the good woman has received an answer ere this. 

While marching a battalion of my regiment from Little 
Rock to Fort Towson during a very warm day in the au- 
tumn of 1848, 1 made a halt at a respectable-looking farm- 
house near the ^hoctaw line in Arkansas, and, seeing a 
woman sitting out upon the portico, I rode up for the pur- 
pose of making some inquiries regarding the roads. She 
returned my salutation, and very politely invited me to 
"'light and have a char." I dismounted, took the chair, 
and complimented the good woman upon the neat and com- 
fortable appearance of her surroundings. She said " it was 
tollible far, considerin they had com'd thar and commenced 
deadnin the trees and maulin the rails only five years 
afore." I should have imagined, however, from the very 
limited extent of her knowledge of the surrounding coun- 
try, that she had but just arrived, or that she had been hi- 
bernating during the five years mentioned. As our road 
forked near the house, I asked her which of the two would 
lead us to a small town on our route about ten miles dis- 
tant. She replied that "she didn't adzactly mind, but she 
sort'r reckon'd her nigger gal mought tell me ;" where- 
upon she called out in a loud, shrill voice, " 0-o-o-oh Ge- 
rushe !" but, as the servant did not respond, she said, 



AN OLD GAL. 36(5 

" Whar is that nigger ?" and again cried out, in a still loud- 
er and more prolonged tone of voice, " O — o — o — o — o — oh 
Gerushe ! ! !" but the strength of her lungs seemed to have 
been so nearly expended in the effort of giving proper em- 
phasis to the letter 0, that the name of the servant was 
called in a quick, faint, and barely audible voice. The last 
call had the desired effect, and soon a venerable negress, at 
least seventy years old, and who struck me as being pretty 
well advanced for a "gal," approached, and, after dropping 
a polite courtesy to me, asked what she could do for "mis- 
sus." The latter, in a sharp, petulant, but exhausted tone, 
indicating that the previous effort to rouse her sable domes- 
tic had been rather too much for her, said, " You lazy, no 
'count nigger, you gess tell this yere stranger whar these 
yere roads goes to, right quick, do ye hear?" Gerushe very 
promptly replied, " Wall, mass'r, I 'specs I'ze guine to tell 
you all about it : Mass'r Jeemes he 'lowed this yere left- 
hand one he guine down to Wash-un-tum, and that thar 
t'other one he guine to Choctaw na-shum." I then asked 
the woman of the house the distance to the nearest post- 
office, but of this she had not the remotest idea, and again 
referred me to the servant, who at once gave me the in- 
formation. Several other inquiries which I made of the 
mistress of the house only served to exhibit her ignorance 
of and indifference to every thing that was transpiring 
around her. She almost invariably appealed for informa- 
tion to her antiquated African "gal," who seemed to be 
much better posted than her mistress ; indeed, she appeared 
to be her sense-bearer, performing not only her physical 
drudgery, but also her mental functions. 

During the course of our conversation the proprietor of 
the establishment, a stalwart, leather-stocking specimen of 
a backwoodsman, came home, leading his horse, with a deer 
packed upon each side, followed by several dogs, and carry- 



364 A SPECIMEN FRONTIERSMAN. 

ing a huge rifle across his shoulder. I congratulated him 
upon his success in hunting, and observed that the deer 
must be abundant in that neighborhood. On the contrary, 
he said they were getting very scarce ; that when he first 
arrived in that section " thar war right smart o' deer; they 
war numerous then," he said; but, although he had been 
out in the woods all the morning, he had only killed three, 
besides " bustin" two caps at another which he did not get. 

He then commenced the following dialogue : 

" Ar you gwine fur to jine ole Zack down in Mexico ?" 

" No, sir, the Mexican war is ended, and we are now en 
route for the Choctaw nation." 

" Whar did ye come from, stranger ?" 

" We came last from Pascagoula." 

"Mought you be the boss hossifer of that thar army?" 
pointing to the men. 

"I am the commanding officer of that detachment, sir." 

" Wall, Mr, Hossifer, be them sure 'nuflf sogers, or is they 
make b'lieve chaps, like I seen down to Orleans ?" 

" They have passed through the Mexican war, and I 
trust they have proved themselves not only worthy the ap- 
pellation of real, genuine soldiers, but of veterans, sir." 

"Now I gest want to know one thing more, boss; be 
them chaps reg-lars, or be they melish?" 

"I assure you that they belong to the regular army of 
the United States." 

Then, pointing to my uniform, he added, "Apperiently, 
then, fightin's your trade ?" 

" I adopted the profession of arms at an early age," I re- 
plied. 

"War you at the Orleans fight, whar our boys. gin sich 
particlar fits to ole Pack?" (Packenham I suppose he 
meant). 

I answered that, though a pretty old soldier, my commis- 
sion did not date quite so far back as 1814. 



A SPECIMEN FRONTIERSMAN. 365 

" Wall, ole boss, you moughtn't a been thar, but you 
ain't no chicken now, sure." He continued : " One time 
pe an him, Ike Thompson, we went on a sogerin spree." 

"Ah ! indeed ; in what place did you serve, pray ?" 

" In severial places ; but the last pop we font at the bat- 
tle of the Hoss-shoe, whar we and ole Hickry cleaned out 
the Ingines." 

" That was a most decisive and sanguinary battle," I ob- 
served. 

■ "I calkerlate, Mr. Hossifer, that war the most fZe-cisivest 
and the most san-^ran-ariest fight you ever seen in all yer 
born days. We boys, we up and pitched in thar, and we 
gin the yaller-bellies the most parr-tiolsLT hail Columby. 
We chawed um all up ; we laid um out cold'r nur a wedge ; 
we saved every mother's son of um — we did that thar lit- 
tle thing, boss." 

I replied that I had no doubt very many of the Indians 
were killed, but that I had always been under the impres- 
sion that some of them made their escape ; and, in fact, I 
was very confident that several Creek Indians were then 
living upon the Canadian Eiver who participated in the 
battle of the Horse-shoe. He said he " rayther reckon'd 
not;" but, at all events, he was quite certain "ef any of 
the dogond varmints did git away, they war d — d badly 
wounded, sartin sure." 

He then produced a bottle of whisky, and gave me a 
pressing invitation "to liquor," remarking that "he war 
not too proud to take a horn with a fellur-soger, even if he 
war a reg-lar." 

After having taken the drink, he approached me, and in 
a serious tone said, " Thar's narry paper tuck in this yere 
settle-men^, but I hearn tell that Gin-ral Jackson ar dead ; 
maybe you mought heer'd some talk 'bout it as you com'd 
'long the road, stranger ?" 

2 11* 



866 MINT JULEPS. 

I answered that I had not the slightest doubt of the fact, 
and that, in my opinion, it was very generally believed 
throughout the United States that the general had died at 
the Hermitage as long ago as 1845. 

Quite an amusing incident was related to me as having 
occurred in Washington County, Arkansas, during the early 
settlement of that section of the state ; and, although I can 
not vouch for its perfect authenticity, yet, as it is eminently 
characteristic of the habits of the people who inhabited that 
country when I first visited there, and as it also illustrates 
a prominent feature in the customs of the Virginians, I ven- 
ture to relate it, even if not wholly new. 

It appeared that a traveler from the Old Dominion, while 
en route for Texas, stopped at a house in Western Arkansas 
for the purpose of feeding his horse, and obtaining some 
rest and refreshment for himself after a hard ride in a hot 
summer's day. On entering the hospitable farm-house, he 
was politely invited to take a seat, and shortly afterward a 
jug of whisky was produced, and he was solicited by the 
proprietor to join him in a social glass. He most cheerful- 
ly complied with the request, but found the liquor of very 
inferior quality and exceedingly unpalatable. On receiv- 
ing an invitation to take a second glass, he intimated that 
he was very fond of mint juleps, and, if there were no par- 
ticular objections, he would prefer to take the next drink in 
that form. His host, it appeared, had never before heard 
of the mixture, but expressed a perfect willingness to be in- 
ducted into the mystery of compounding it ; whereupon the 
gentleman from the Old Dominion stepped out into the in- 
closure in front of the house, picked some fresh mint from 
a large patch growing there, and with cold water direct from 
the spring, and some brown sugar, he soon manufactured 
two juleps, which, although not quite equal, perhaps, to those 
that can be obtained in some of the luxurious saloons of our 



"the OLE man's dead, stranger." 367 

large cities, yet were far from being unpalatable to a thirsty 
traveler, and certainly were a very great improvement upon 
the " haldface^^ in its crude, native state. 

The Arkansian pronounced it excellent, and very soon 
called upon his guest to concoct another, which he consid- 
ered still better than the first, and before they parted quite 
a number of the fascinating compounds had been imbibed, 
and the host had learned the secret of manufacturing them. 

The Virginian continued on his journey toward Texas, 
and in due course of time set out to return. On arriving 
at the house before-mentioned, he concluded he would call 
and renew his acquaintance with his friendly old host. 
Accordingly, he rode up to the gate, and seeing one of the 
boys of the family standing near, asked him, "How is the 
old gentleman, your father, my son ?" 

The boy, with an air of the most perfect indifference, re- 
plied, " Why, the ole man's dead, stranger." 

"Is it possible? How long since?"" 

" About two weeks, stranger." 

" Ah, indeed ! Pray what was the matter with the poor 
old gentleman, my son?" 

"Waal, now, stranger, I'll tell ye what it war. Thar 
war an old fellar from Virgine, he com'd along this way 
last summer, and he jist ups and larns the ole man to drink 
greens in his licker, and you can bet your life on't it 
knocked him higher nor a kite!" 

Upon the Virginian's suggesting to the boy that it might 
have been possible the bad quality of the whisky exercised 
a more deleterious influence upon his father's health than 
the mint, he replied, 

" No, stranger, it war not the whisky, for we've allers 
used licker in our family, and though it made old mom 
powerful weak, yet it never phazed ole pop arry time — no, 
it war the greens, as sure as yer born." 



Q 



68 FREE DRINKING. 



As the Virginian had not been recognized by the young 
man, and did not feel disposed to incur the responsibility 
of having recommended the introduction of such a fatal in- 
gredient into the family beverage, he went on his way, if 
not a better, certainly a wiser man than before. 

Among the characteristics of the people of the United 
States, I know of no custom which exhibits a more marked 
contrast in their habits and those of their cousins on the 
other side of the Atlantic than that of the interchange of 
civilities over the social glass. Whenever friends meet, in 
this country, at a private house or a hotel, it is seldom that 
they separate without " renewing the assurances" of their 
mutual esteem by taking a drink together ; and if they are 
on the " temperance list," they take a glass of beer, lemon- 
ade, or any thing else that suits their inclinations, but the 
person extending the invitation always expects to pay the 
bill. This practice is especially prevalent in the South- 
western States ; and in some places, if a man takes a drink 
at the bar of an inn, and does not invite all those around to 
join him, even though they may be strangers to him, he is 
looked upon with contempt. 

An acquaintance of mine, living in the Cherokee coun- 
try, once visited Little Eock, and stopped at the Anthony 
House. Feeling fatigued and thirsty after a hard ride, he, 
on entering the hotel, went to the bar and called for a glass 
of liquor, when, to his astonishment, he said, "Fourteen men 
who were sitting around stepped up and 'lowed they'd take 
sugar in thar'n !" He paid for the fifteen drinks, as it was 
in strict conformity with the customs of the country, but he 
did not visit the bar again. 

As is well understood, the corps of cadets of the Military 
Academy at West Point is composed of young men who 
are appointed from all sections of the United States, and 
occasionally may be seen among them frontier youths who, 



A GREEN CADET. 369 

on their first arrival, have seen but little of the world, and 
are exceedingly primitive and unsophisticated. 

I remember very well, while I was at the institution, that 
a young man from the remote Western borders, near the 
Cherokee nation, who had never in his life been over a few 
miles from home, received a letter of appointment to the 
Military Academy through the representative from his Con- 
gressional district. 

His father furnished him with a horse, saddle, and bridle, 
and with his slender wardrobe packed in a capacious pair 
of saddle-bags, he set out on his long journey for West 
Point. After many days' hard riding (there were no rail- 
roads then) he at length arrived in Jersey City, where, after 
selling his horse, he took his saddle-bags on his arm, and, 
crossing the ferry, entered New York, with the intention of 
'■^ipuiiing up''' at the first respectable tavern he could find. 

He passed up Courtlandt Street and Broadway with his 
eyes continually searching for the sign-post and swinging 
sign which he supposed to be the universal evidence of a 
tavern throughout the civilized world, but his search was in 
vain. He found nothing but one vast conglomeration of 
stores, shops, and private houses ; not a single tavern did he 
meet with. Finally, after becoming considerably fatigued 
in wandering about the streets, he discovered the sign of an 
oyster saloon, and, as he had never before had an opportu- 
nity of testing the merits of the bivalves, he entered the 
establishment, and, putting down his saddle-bags, informed 
the .waiter that "he didn't mind if he tuck a few of them ar 
oysters hisself ;" and in answer to the inquiry of how many 
he desired to have, said "he reckon'd about half a peck." 
They were accordingly set before him raw, "on the half- 
shell." He did not at all fancy their appearance ; yet, as 
he observed persons all around him devouring them with 
much apparent relish, he selected one of the largest, and. 



370 ARRIVAL AT WEST POINT, 

after scrutinizing it very attentively for a moment, put it in 
his mouth ; but no sooner had it come in contact with his 
palate than it was ejected, with intense disgust, half way 
across the room; at the same time he called out to the 
waiter, "Look a yere, mister, take off these yere nasty var- 
mints, and bring me some bacon and eggs." 

Soon after this he delivered a letter of introduction, with 
which he had been provided, to a gentleman in the city, 
who kindly showed him to a hotel, and assisted him in pur- 
chasing a trunk and a suitable wardrobe; and on the fol- 
lowing morning he took the steamer for his destination, 
and, in due course of time, was landed upon the wharf at 
West Point. 

Now his letter of appointment required him to report in 
person to the superintendent, Colonel Thayer, who was a 
very refined, courteous, and dignified gentleman, but, at the 
same time, he was exceedingly rigid in enforcing the strict- 
est discipline, and the highest respect for rank and military 
authority. My young friend, after ascertaining where the 
colonel's quarters were situated, shouldered his trunk (he 
was then about six feet high, and powerfully developed), 
and staggered under its weight up the steep hill to the su- 
perintendent's house, put down his trunk upon the steps, 
and was at once admitted into the colonel's presence. 

Unlike most of the cadets on their first introduction to 
this dignitary, he was not in the slightest degree abashed, 
but felt entirely self-possessed, and, taking a chair close to 
the colonel, and looking him attentively in the face, said, 
" Ole man, ar you Colonel, or Captain, or whatever-you- 
call-um Thayer?" To which the old gentleman very 
gravely replied, " I am Colonel Thayer, sir." " Wall, now, 
look-a-yere, Kurn^'''' said the youth, " this yere hill o' yourn 
am a breather; ef it ain't, d — n me." 

The colonel soon comprehended what kind of a specimen 



A PRAIRIE BELLE. 871 

of humanity he had before him, and directed his orderly to 
show him to the barracks, where he was soon inducted into 
the mysteries of wholesome discipline. 

As it may be a matter of curiosity with some to know 
what success this untutored youth of the forest met with 
in his academical career, I add, for their information, that 
he applied himself zealously to his studies, attained a good 
standing in his class, and, on graduating, was an accom- 
plished gentleman and scholar, who reflected credit upon 
the institution, and was afterward favorably known as the 
author of a History .of Texas. 

A PRAIRIE BELLE. 

As I was returning from the Plains, after having ex- 
plored the Brazos Eiver to its sources in 1854, 1 met, near 
the most remote frontier house, three girls, who were ac- 
companied by a young man, who were picking wild grapes 
beside the road. We learned from them that they lived 
but a short distance in advance, and that there was a very 
fine spring, with good camping-ground, near their house, 
and we resolved to halt there for the night. 

As we had a vacant seat in our wagon, and as the party 
were on foot, I inquired if one of the young ladies would 
not like to ride with us to the house. One of them assent- 
ing, my companion, a New York gentleman, very politely 
extended his hand to assist her ; but, instead of accepting 
it, she made a sudden leap from the ground over the side 
of the vehicle, and landed directly by his side. This extra- 
ordinary acrobatic feat of agility, which would have done 
credit to the Eavel family, or any other professional artistes, 
took us by surprise, and as we proceeded toward the house 
we entered into conversation with her, and were greatly 
diverted by the originality of her ideas, and the perfect 
freedom and abandon with which she gave expression to 



372 THE FRONTIER STYLE. 

them. She appeared to be about eighteen years of age, 
with rather a mascuHne physique, her figure tall, erect, and 
lithe, but well rounded, and exceedingly graceful and femi- 
nine in outline, the incarnation of perfect health and vigor. 
Her face was thoroughly browned by exposure and exer- 
cise in the open air (she had probably never seen or heard 
of such a hothouse appendage as a sun-shade), and was con- 
stantly lighted up with a cheerful, happy expression, indi- 
cating an overflowing exuberance of spirits, which dissem- 
inated an atmosphere around her, the fascination of which 
was ■ irresistible to those who came within its influence; 
and her laughing, dancing blue eyes seemed ever on the 
qui vive for fun and frolic. She wore a closely - fitting 
bloomer costume, with a jaunty little straw hat upon one 
side of her head, fastened under the chin with a pretty pink 
ribbon, and her luxurious natural hair curled in ringlets all 
over her shoulders. 

She was evidently the reigning belle of the neighbor- 
hood, as well as the favorite spoiled child of her family; 
and she was just as wild, untamed, and free from the ab- 
surd, tyrannical conventionalities of society as the mustangs 
that roamed over the adjacent prairies. 

My companion related to her some of the most remark- 
able incidents of our expedition, which seemed to interest 
her vastly; but, at the same time, her credulity appeared 
to be somewhat taxed, and would occasionally find utter- 
ance in such ejaculations as, ^' Oh, git out/" ^^You go-long 
7101V f" ^'•Look at himP'' etc., which seemed the spontaneous 
outbursts of her impulsive nature, and rather in the char- 
acter of a soliloquy than seriously intended to express doubt 
as to the truth of the narrative. 

In one instance she became intensely absorbed in my 
friend's account of a visit we received from the Comanches, 
and some of the peculiar habits of those people, and gave 



AFEAID OF WOLVES. 373 

vent to her feelings by administering a violent slap upon 
his knee, and at the same time exclaiming, " The he — e — e 
— II you say^ stranger /" giving particular emphasis to and 
dwelling upon the most objectionable word in the sentence. 

She inquired very particularly about our camping ar- 
rangements, and manifested a good deal of curiosity con- 
cerning the shape, capacity, and material of our tent. She 
had never seen one, it appeared, and I remarked to her that 
after ours was pitched, if she would honor us with a call, 
she would have a good opportunity of seeing how very 
comfortable we could make ourselves in camp. At this 
she turned around, facing me, applied her thumb to her 
nose with her fingers extended, closed one eye, and, with 
her countenance assuming a most ludicrously severe ex- 
pression, observed, "/'?7z afraid of wolves, ole hoss.^^ 

As I was quite unconscious of having intended any dis- 
respect to the young lady, I was a good deal surprised at 
this exhibition of indignation. What signification her re- 
mark was intended to convey I have never yet learned ; I 
certainly never for a moment imagined that any resem- 
blance could be detected between the carnivorous quadru- 
ped so pointedly alluded to and ourselves, even had we 
been attired in "s/iee/^'s cloihingy From the savage ex- 
pression her countenance assumed, however, I did not feel 
inclined to press her for an explanation, and changed the 
subject as soon as possible. 

While surveying Indian reservations in the wilds of 
Western Texas during the summer of 1854, 1 encountered 
a deputy state surveyor traveling on foot, with his compass 
and chain upon his back. I saluted him politely, remarking 
that I presumed he was a surveyor, to which he replied, 
" I reckon, stranger, I ar that thar individoal." 

I had taken the magnetic variation several times, always 
with nearly the same results (about 10° 20') ; but, in order 

21 



374 AN INVARIABLE COMPASS. 

to verify my observations, I was curious to learn how they 
accorded with his own working, and accordingfy inquired 
what he made the variation of the compass in that locality. 
He seemed struck with astonishment at the question, took 
the compass from his back, laid it upon a log near by, then 
facing me, and pointing with his finger toward it, said, 
"Stranger, do yer see that thar in-stru-??ie?2^.?" to which I 
replied in the afiirmative. He continued : " I've owned her 
well-nigh goin on twenty year. I've put her through the 
perarries and through the timber, and now you look-a-yere, 
stranger, you can jist bet yer life on't she never var-ried 
arry time, and ef you'll foller her sign ye'll knock the cen- 
tre outer the north star ; she never lies, she donHy 

He seemed to consider my interrogatory as a direct in- 
sinuation that his compass was an imperfect one, and hence 
his indignation. Thinking I should not get any important 
information concerning the magnetic variation from this 
surveyor, I begged his pardon for questioning the accuracy 
of his m&tmment^ bade him good-morning, and continued 
my journey. 

On my j-eturn to Fort Smith, Arkansas, in the autumn 
of 1852, after having explored the Eed Eiver to its sources, 
and upon the occasion when it was very generally supposed 
that our party had all been overpowered and put to death 
by the Indians, I set out with two gentlemen of the party, 
Captain McClellan and a friend from New York, who had 
accompanied us for the benefit of his health, en route for 
Rock Roe, the steam-boat landing on White River, a dis- 
tance of some two hundred miles. 

The health of my invalid companion was not yet suffi- 
ciently restored to enable him to digest the heavy balls that 
were usually set before travelers in that country under the 
name of biscuit, and he laid in at Fort Smith a good supply 
of baker's bread and tea for our journey. 



NOT MASSACRED. 37o 

Our first halt, after we left Fort Smith, was at a planta- 
tion house some twenty-five miles out. We drove up to 
the gate, and I entered the house, where I found a woman 
lying upon a bed, suffering from a severe attack of rheuma- 
tism. I apologized for disturbing her, and remarked that I 
had called for the purpose of ascertaining if two companions 
and myself could be accommodated with dinner. 

She said lier servants were all out in the field, and she 
could not at that time think of taking them from their 
work. I then asked her how long She had been ill, and 
whether she had a good physician to attend her, etc. She 
replied that the only doctor she had confidence in was Dr. 
Shumard, and, as he had been killed by the Indians, she 
did not feel inclined to call upon any other. Now Dr. 
Shumard had been the surgeon upon my recent expedition, 
and had returned with me to Fort Smith. 

I inquired of the lady if she was quite certain that the 
doctor had been massacred by the savages. She said there 
was not the slightest doubt upon the subject, as he was with 
Captain Marcy, who, with every soul in the party, were put 
to death by the Coraanches. I then asked her if I could 
prove to her that Dr. Shumard was alive and well, and at 
that very time at his home in Fort Smith, whether she 
would allow her servants to come in and get us dinner, to 
which she most willingly assented; whereupon, making a 
profound obeisance to her, I said, " I have the honor, mad- 
am, of presenting myself to you as the identical Captain 
Marcy whom you suppose to have been killed by the In- 
dians ; and I also have the pleasure to inform you that 
your physician returned with me yesterday to Fort Smith, 
and in the best possible state of health." 

She immediately screamed out" at the top of her voice, 
" You Jim, go out into the field, and tell Sally to come 
here quick, and get these gentlemen some dinner ; do you 



376 TOAST AND TEA. 

hear?" Sally soon made her appearance, and in a short 
time set before us a very excellent repast, to which we did 
ample justice, and, bidding our hostess good-by, resumed 
our journey. 

On the second day out from the fort we halted for the 
night at a respectable-looking farm-house, where we were 
informed we could be accommodated with lodgings, and 
my New York companion readily obtained from the host- 
ess a promise to make a nice dish of toast and a cup of tea 
for supper. 

In due course of events our supper was announced, and we 
seated ourselves at the table, which, according to the custom 
of the country, was spread under the portico of the house. 

The dishes before us consisted of fried bacon floating in 
grease, some corn-bread in the shape of hand grenades, and 
a quantity of glutinous, half-baked hot biscuit, neither of 
which seemed calculated to tempt the appetite of the gen- 
tleman from New York, who called for the toast. The land- 
lady replied that "she had it on a fryin^ and she 'lowed it 
would soon be done." Captain McClellan and myself ex- 
changed significant glances at this information, but my 
friend from New York did not appear to appreciate the 
joke, and asked "what the devil she meant by frying toast." 
She assured him it was all right, as he would soon see for 
himself. When it came on the table it appeared that she 
had taken the loaf, cut it in two parts, placed them in a 
pan, and fried them in grease for about half an hour. My 
friend did not seem to relish this method of cooking, and 
explained to the hostess in detail the proper method of 
making toast; whereupon she said, " Oh, you want burnt 
bread ; I thought you wanted toast." 

The woman evidently did not know much more about 
making tea than she did of the proper method of preparing 
the toast. 



A POPULOUS BED. 377 

Indeed, it is very seldom that tea can be found among 
these people ; and, although they all make excellent cof- 
fee, very many of them never drank a cup of tea in their 
lives. A lady of my acquaintance, in traveling from Fort 
Towson to Shreveport some twelve years since, knowing 
the difficulty of procuring her favorite beverage in that 
section, had provided herself with about a pound of choice 
green tea, and at one of her stopping-places upon Red 
River requested the woman of the house to make her a 
cup of it. When the supper was announced my friend in- 
quired for her tea; the woman said, "Wall, now, marm, I 
put them dried greens o' yourn in the pot mor'n a half 
hour ago, and they've been bilin ever since, and I've 
changed the water three times, but tain't no use, I reckon ; 
thar so bitter now that no woman in Rackensack (Arkan- 
sas) can eat um." 

After the supper was concluded a room with three beds 
was assigned to our use, and we congratulated ourselves 
on the prospect of obtaining a comfortable night's repose. 
Shortly after we had retired, however, I felt something, as I 
imagined, crawling upon my legs, and made several rapid 
passes with my hand for the purpose of catching the intrud- 
er ; but without success ; he constantly eluded my grasp ; 
and, after many failures, the tickling sensation still continu- 
ing, I quietly got up, lit a candle, returned to the bed and 
pulled djOwn the clothes, when, without the slightest exag- 
geration, I sincerely believe that, at a moderate estimate, 
at least ten thousand bedbugs greeted my eyes. There was 
a perfect army of them, marching and countermarching in 
all directions, apparently seeking whom they might devour. 
As the prospect for sleep did not appear very encouraging 
here, I took my own blanket, went out into the inclosure in 
front of the house, and lay down upon the grass. As I 
was passing out, the gentleman from New York called out, 

2 1* 



878 CURIOSITY. 

"What in thunder is it that tickles my legs so?" I re- 
plied, " Nothing at all," and recommended him to go to 
sleep and remain quiet. It was but a short time, however, 
before both my companions joined me, and we all passed 
the remainder of the night upon the grass. 

The people of the New England States are proverbial for 
their curiosity, and it is sometimes difficult to elude their 
inquisitive and persevering tact in gaining the information 
they desire. For example, I was traveling through Wis- 
consin during the early period of its settlement in 1838, 
and stopped overnight at a small log tavern in Janesville, 
on Eock Eiver. The house, on my arrival, was occupied 
by a number of travelers, all crowded into one small room, 
and among them I observed a man evidently from New 
England, who made himself conspicuous by questioning 
every one as to where he was from, where he was going, 
what his business was, etc., etc. 

During the evening he accosted me by saying, " From 
Madison, mister ?" 

Not feeling disposed to gratify his impertinent proclivi- 
ties, I abruptly replied, "No, sir." 

He then said, "Oh, yer from Mineral Pint, hay?" 

"No." 

" Goin tu Milwakee ?" 

"No." 

"Oh, maybe yer goin tu Eacine?" 

"No, sir, no, I tell you." I then asked him if there were 
any other items of information upon which I could enlight- 
en him. He hesitated for an instant, then continued : 

"Live at Prairie du Chien, mister?" 

"No." 

" Mabby ye live at Gerlena?" 

"No, sir." 

" Where du ye make it yer hum ?" 



ROVERS. 379 

I replied " nowhere in particular," but informed him that 
the peculiar idiosyncrasy of my individual penchant rather 
inclined me to adopt a cosmopolitan life. This answer ap- 
peared to puzzle him greatly, and the only reply he made 
was to raise his hands, turn up his eyes, and exclaim, "You 
doan't say so, neou, du yer." He suspended his interroga- 
tories here, but evidently resolved to watch me closely. 

Now the fact is, I was at that time stationed at Fort 
Winnebago, and eii route for Chicago, but I firmly resolved 
that the Yankee (I am one myself, and have a right to tell 
them their faults) should not discover it if I could possibly 
prevent it. Soon afterward, however, my companion du 
voyage entered, and approaching me, said, " I wish, Marcy, 
on your return from Chicago, you would remember me 
very kindly to the officers at Winnebago." 

The inquisitive individual instantly jumped up, and with 
a most gratified expression of countenance exclaimed, "Oh, 
Mr. Marcy, ye make it yer hum tu Winnebago, doan't ye, 
and yer going tu Chicago, ain't ye?" 

I was considerably annoyed at his triumph, but the only 
retaliation I was able to inflict upon him was to suggest 
that, in my opinion, it would be just as well for him if he 
would attend to his own affairs, and let other people alone. 

Another trait in the character of the New England man 
which is fully as marked as their desire to obtain informa- 
tion is their erratic cosmopolitan propensity for locomotion 
and roaming. They are eminently social and gregarious 
in their dispositions and habits, but at the same time they 
are very far from being local or clannish in their proclivi- 
ties, and they may be found dispersed throughout almost 
all the habitable parts of the universe. 

At the time the army under General Taylor occupied 
Brownsville, opposite Matamoras, during the spring of 1846, 
we found it very difficult to procure supplies of vegetables 



880 A YANKEE-MEXICAN. 

and fruits, and I had, for the first time, turned my attention 
to the Spanish language as the only means of communica- 
ting with the Mexicans, and had, with a great deal of diffi- 
culty, mastered a few useful phrases, when one day I start- 
ed out in search of supplies for our mess. 

I had not gone far before I met an old Mexican (as I 
supposed), dressed in full Spanish costume, with slashed 
trowsers, gilt buttons, and broad -brimmed sombrero, and 
followed by several senoras and senoritas leading buros 
packed with vegetables. I halted, and pointing to a good- 
sized cabbage, said, "Quantus pour este, seiior?" (How 
much for that, sir?) To which the man, to my astonish- 
ment, answered, " Abeout tue bi^ ;" upon which I said, 
" You speak English very well, seiior." He rejoined, 
"Well, I think I or-tue — I come from Massachusetts." 

Upon inquiry, I learned that this man was born and 
raised only about twenty miles from my own native town, 
and that he had emigrated to Texas some thirty years be- 
fore ; was engaged in General Green's expedition at Mier, 
captured and taken to Mexico as a prisoner, and subse- 
quently confined in the Castle of Perote for a long time, 
but "was finally released, and found his way back to Mata- 
moras, where he had lived ever since, adopting the Mexi- 
can costume and habits. 

The propensity of the New Englanders for wandering 
does not seem to be confined to the male sex, as the fol- 
lowing little incident will show. 

During the summer of 1864, 1 was descending the Mis- 
sissippi River en route from Little Rock, when the steamer 
I was upon stopped to wood at an island where a contra- 
band wood-yard had been established under government 
protection. 

While the steamer was receiving its fuel I walked out 
upon shore, where I found quite a group of log-huts erected 



A RECOGNITION, 381 

lor the use of the negroes. In the door of one of them I 
saw an elderly white woman standing, and entered into 
conversation with her. After a few minutes she asked me 
if I was attached to the army, and on my giving an affirm- 
ative answer, she continued, " What may I call your name ?" 
I said " Marcy." " What, R. B. Marcy ?" "Yes." "Ran- 
dolph B. Marcy ?" I repeated " Yes." " Are you from 
Massachusetts ?" " Yes." " From Hampshire County ?" 
" Yes." " From Greenwich ?" " Yes." " The son of L. 
Marcy?" " Yes." " Well, then, I made your shirts when 
you went to West Point." Of course I was very much as- 
tonished, and begged to ask whom I had the honor of ad- 
dressing, and how it happened that she had wandered so far 
from the place of her nativity. She stated that she had 
been sent out here by some Christian benevolent associa- 
tion to teach the freedmen's children, and she was, I be- 
lieve, the only white female upon the island ; at all events, 
I saw no other. 

It is very true that the New Englanders seem to be pos- 
sessed with an irresistible penchcmt for accumulating as 
large a stock as possible of useful information, nevertheless 
I have observed the same dominant proclivities in the char- 
acter of the Southern and Western people ; with them, how- 
ever, they are manifested in a more direct and blunt man- 
ner. 

A friend of mine, who was traveling in Alabama upon 
one occasion, met a man in the road who accosted him as 
follows : " Whar ar ye from, stranger ?" He, knowing the 
prejudices of the Southern people against the "Yankees," 
although he had never been there in his life, replied, " From 
Richmond." 

At this answer the man said, "I once know'd a heap o' 
people in Richmond, and I've got right smart of kin-folks 
thar too ; maybe you mought know Jim Johnson, of Main 



382 HOSPITALITY. 

Street?" to which my friend was obliged to answer in 
the negative. "Wall, now, stranger, do yes know Jake 
Brown, on Broad Street?" He said he had not the pleas- 
ure of his acquaintance either. Several other interrogato- 
ries about Richmond were asked and replied to in a similar 
manner, greatly, to the confusion of my friend, who, not- 
withstanding the Southern prejudices against New En- 
glanders, resolved the next time he was questioned to tell 
the truth. 

He soon afterward met another man, who said to him, 
"•Whar did ye come from, stranger?" 

" I came from Connecticut, sir." 

" W/iar did ye say?" 

"From Connecticut." 

"Connecticut? Connecticut?" repeated the man, with a 
puzzled look; "wall, now, stranger, I don't mind hearin o' 
that thar town afore, I be dogond ef I do." 

Virginians are proverbial for their hospitality, and I have 
no doubt that very many of them richly deserve the envia- 
ble reputation they have acquired for the liberal, open- 
handed manner in which they entertain their guests ; but I 
am compelled to acknowledge that in my travels I have 
found exceptions to this rule. 

In 1849 I made a road from New Mexico, passing 
through Northern Texas to Arkansas, which was traveled 
for several years by California emigrants, thus affording a 
good market to the farmers along the adjacent country for 
their produce. 

In 185-1 I passed over this road again, and stopped for 
dinner at a plantation owned by a Mr. McCarty, from Vir- 
ginia, who, on my arrival, seemed highly delighted to see 
me again, remarking that if I had only notified him I was 
coming that way, he would have given me the biggest bar- 
becue that country had ever seen. 



BORDER DIALECTS. 383 

He complimented me by saying that I had done more 
for the country than any other man living, and if I would 
run for Congress in that district he would insure my elec- 
tion. I thanked him for his kind wishes in my behalf, and 
informed him that I should not be able to stay for the bar- 
becue, but that, if it was perfectly convenient, we would 
with pleasure dine with him. 

After dinner I hesitated for some time about offering 
compensation to our host, but finally did so by asking him 
how much we were indebted for our dinner. He replied, 
" Only six bits apiece, Cap." (The usual price in that coun- 
try was two bits.) 

As we were preparing to leave, he remarked, " You must 
give us a call on your return, sir^ and stay overnight with 
us, sir ; I want to show you a specimen of genuine old Vir- 
ginia hospitality, sir J'' He then directed one of the negroes 
to bring up our horses, and, as we were mounting, said, 
"Gentlemen, don't give that boy Jake two bits apiece for 
taking care of your horses; don't do it, gentlemen." (We 
had then made no demonstrations toward rewarding the 
toy.) 

From fhe price we paid for our dinner, it occurred to me 
that if the barbecue had come off, the Virginian's hospital- 
ity might have proved rather an expensive affair to me. 

The people inhabiting the rural districts of the South- 
western States have, as the reader has probably observed, 
adopted many words and phrases which are not found in 
Webster's Dictionary, or sanctioned by any of our gram- 
marians. They have also taken the liberty of changing 
the pronunciation of many words in such a manner, and 
applying them in such novel ways, that it is almost impos- 
sible for one not familiar with these peculiarities to com- 
prehend their meaning in ordinary conversation. For in- 
stance, they call bear, har ; door, doo ; chair, char ; stair. 



oS4: ■ AN OVEKCKAF. 

star ; crop, crap ; etc., etc. They say, "I made right smart 
o' craps this year," or " How ar ye crappin on't?" etc. But 
I heard this word used in a still more singular connection 
while I was making the passage across the Gulf from New 
Orleans to Powder-horn, in company with Mr. Kendall, for- 
merly of the New Orleans Picayune, and several other very 
agreeable gentlemen, who were e?2 route to Texas. 

Shortly after leaving New Orleans our attention was di- 
rected to a newly-married couple on board, who presented 
the most extraordinary contrast in size that I have ever 
met with. The man was exceedingly diminutive — I should 
imagine about five feet high, and probably not exceeding 
one hundred pounds in weight ; while, on the other hand, 
his bride was a most buxom and ponderous personage, and, 
as I verily believe, weighed at the smallest calculation two 
hundred and fifty pounds. The contrast was so marked, 
and indeed ludicrous, that they were the objects of irresist- 
ible observation and comment whenever they made their 
appearance together. 

One day I was standing upon the upper deck of the 
steamer while the happy pair were promenading back and 
forth, arm in arm, when a passenger, who was evidently a 
backwoodsman, approached me, and, pointing toward them, 
said, "Now, Cap., don't you sorter reckon that thar little man 
thar has a leetle bit overcrapt hisselff I concurred with 
him in what I took to be the import of his agricultural fig- 
ure, and observed that, in my opinion, the young gentleman 
would have his hands full in the event of any future dis- 
cord which should lead to a personal encounter between 
them. He turned and walked away, remarking, " As sure 
as yer born, he's a mighty small chance of a man to have 
such a powerful heap o' wife." 

As we were coming into the border settlements of Texas 
from my first expedition across the Plains in 1849, after an 



LOST AND FOUND. 385 

absence of eight months, during which time we had not 
heard a word from our friends at home, one of the first 
houses we met with upon our route was that of a planter 
by the name of Butt, who possessed a large force of negroes, 
and cultivated extensive crops. As may be imagined, our 
wardrobes, after a long march through an unexplored coun- 
try from New Mexico, were in a somewhat dilapidated con- 
dition, and our tattered costumes were not such at this time 
as to give any indication that we held commissions in the 
United States Army, or to impress a stranger very favor- 
ably toward us. 

I started out from camp at an early hour in the morning, 
in advance of the command, and, riding up to Mr. Butt's 
gate, saw a man standing upon the piazza, whom I took to 
be the proprietor of the establishment, and inquired if he 
had any corn for sale. He, in a very curt and indifferent 
manner, after casting a glance at me, said, "Yes, I've a plen- 
ty of corn ;" and in reply to my inquiry as to whether he 
would sell me some, he said, " Yes, sir, if you've got money 
to pay for it." 

I told him that, unfortunately, our finances were then 
pretty low, but, if it would answer his purposes, I would 
give him an order upon the quartermaster at Fort Wash- 
ita, which I assured him would be a good voucher for the 
payment of the corn. This proposition seemed to strike 
him with surprise, and, after looking attentively at me for 
a moment, he came out to the gate, invited me to alight 
and walk into the house. He then inquired of me what 
part of the country I came from, and on my replying that I 
was just in from the Plains, he said, "Ah indeed ! pray did 
you hear any thing from Captain Marcy as you passed 
through the Indian country?" Now the fact was, we had 
been expected for several weeks, and serious fears were be- 
ginning to be entertained by our friends for our safety. I 

2K 



386 LOST AND FOUND. 

answered his question by assuring him that I had several 
times met the individual he seemed to take such an interest 
in, and, indeed, that we had traveled together for a consid- 
erable distance. 

"Is it possible?" said he. "Well, sir, can you give me 
any information as to his whereabouts at this time, for his 
wife has been at Fort Washita several weeks, in a state of 
considerable anxiety, awaiting tidings from him ?" 

I replied that I had no doubt the lady had a proper ap- 
preciation of the perils her husband had been subjected to, 
but that I knew him well, as we had been raised and were 
schoolmates together ; indeed, I said, the origin of our ac- 
quaintance might be dated some forty years back. I, how- 
ever, quietly intimated to him that it might be just as well 
for him to say nothing about the exact number of years to 

Mrs. M , as I was under the impression that she was a 

little sensitive upon this particular subject, I then added 
that, according to the best of my knowledge and belief, the 
captain was the identical personage with whom he was con- 
versing at that very instant. Of course he was greatly as- 
tonished, and told me that his corn, hay, house, and every 
thing it contained, were all at my disposal. 

I frequently met Mr. Butt afterward, and am indebted to 
him and his accomplished lady for many hospitalities which 
they have extended to me. 

In passing through the interior settlements of Texas, Ar- 
kansas, and Southwestern Missouri, the traveler rarely sees 
a church or school-house. The few places of public wor- 
ship that are met with in this country are generally located 
in the vicinity of springs and in groves of timber, where 
semicircular tiers of benches are placed, with a pulpit in 
the centre, something in the form of a decapitated sentry- 
box, the whole having no other covering but the branches 
of the trees, surmounted by the canopy of the heavens; 



A BOLD PARSON. 387 

and it is only occasionally, at wide intervals of time, when 
a circuit or other itinerant preacher happens to come around, 
that they have an opportunity of listening to any elucida- 
tion of the Scriptures. The consequence is, that these peo- 
ple have but little appreciation of the sanctity and holiness 
of the principles inculcated by our Christian religion, and 
do not, in many cases, entertain a proper respect and rev- 
erence for the teachers of this religion. 

The Eeverend Mr. C , who had spent the greater 

part of his life in endeavoring to improve the spiritual con- 
dition of the people in Western Texas, was at one time ap- 
pointed chaplain for a military post at which I chanced to 
be stationed, and related to me several quite amusing inci- 
dents connected with his professional career in that country. 

He was a man of most unexceptionable moral and re- 
ligious character, besides being an educated and refined gen- 
tleman ; but, at the same time, he possessed an irascible 
and explosive temperament, which required the exercise of 
all his powers of self-discipline to keep it under proper 
subjection. For example, he once learned that a cerlain 
deacon of his church had made allegations which were 
highly detrimental to his character, and wholly untrue. 
This roused his indignation to such a pitch that, upon the 
impulse of the moment, he seized a cowhide, and started 
out with the firm determination of giving him a sound flag- 
ellation ; but, before reaching the deacon's residence, it oc- 
curred to him that this was rather an improper proceeding 
for a man of his profession, and, after a little reflection, he 
abandoned his purpose. 

While riding his circuit at one time in the sparsely-set- 
tled country bordering Red River, he wandered from his 
customary ^ route, and was overtaken by night near the 
house of a gambler of notoriously desperate character, 
whose hostility to religious persons had been evinced upon 



388 A BOLD PAKSON. 

numerous occasions, and was proverbial. It was generally 
believed that he had been guilty of more heinous practices 
than that of obtaining money by the exercise of the tricks 
of his profession, and it was even hinted that some of the 
travelers who had taken lodgings at his house had very 

mysteriously disappeared. Mr. C was perfectly aware 

of these facts, and would have preferred other quarters ; 
but he was a valorous " soldier of the Cross," of whom it 
might very truly be said "that he feared neither man nor 
the devil," and he did not hesitate to stoj). As he rode up 
to the door, he overheard the man observe to his wife, 
" There comes that d — d old parson. I suppose he wants 
to stay overnight ; but if he thinks I am going to put up 
with his praying and psalm-singing, he is very much mis- 
taken. I'll make him pay his bill in different coin from 
that." He paid no attention to the ill-natured remark, but, 
dismounting, entered the house, and informed the surly pro- 
prietor that he intended passing the night with him. To 
which the man replied that perhaps he would suspend his 
decision upon that subject until he had ascertained whether 
his presence would be agreeable. To this he made no an- 
swer, excepting, as he pulled off his overcoat, he observed 
that he had come to stay. When supper was announced, 
and all were seated at the table, the gambler seized his knife 
and fork, and was about commencing his repast, when the 
clergyman raised his hands as in the act of invoking a bless- 
ing, and, at the same time, cast a stern look of inquiry at 
him, which caused him to drop his knife and fork, and in 
an indignant tone to say, " Let er slide, parson^ He was 
evidently much annoyed at the rather arbitrary and dicta- 
torial manner in which the clerical gentleman exercised his 
ecclesiastical prerogatives upon his premises, and hardly 
condescended to address any conversation to him during 
the evening. The clergyman, however, was not at all in- 



TEXAN PIONEERS. 389 

timidated or disconcerted by these manifestations of dissat- 
isfaction and ill-humor, and resolved, when the time ap- 
proached for retiring to bed, that he would perform his 
customary evening family service. Thereupon he drew 
from his pocket a Bible, and in a very solemn and stern 
manner motioned to the gambler to bring him a small 
table. He complied with the summons, seized the table, 
and in a manner as if to ventilate his indignation, slammed 
it down in front of his guest ; then, resuming his seat, com- 
menced whistling the " Arkansas Traveler." The clergy- 
man said nothing, but looked a severe reprimand at him 
while he significantly pointed his finger to the Bible. This 
had the desired effect. He ceased his derisive whistling, 
and, with a most disgusted air, said, " Well, d — n it, par- 
son, hile ahead.' ^ 

The night passed quietly, the morning service was per- 
formed, and, as my friend was about taking his departure, 
he opened his purse and inquired the amount of his bill, 
and received the following laconic reply : " Not a d — d 
cent, parson ; go along about your business ; but don't 
come psalm-singing around my house any more, for I won't 
stand it." 

Among the pioneers who, under the inducements held 
out by Mexico, first emigrated. to Texas from the United 
States, were many worthy citizens, who entered this new 
field of enterprise with the design of making permanent 
homes for their families ; but with these were commingled 
adventurous spirits, who sought excitement and danger ; 
also individuals of desperate fortunes, who had nothing to 
lose ; as well as refugees from justice, who deemed this the 
safest asylum to escape the penalties due to their crimes. 

As a necessary consequence, society composed of such 

heterogeneous elements was eminently impulsive, unsettled, 

and lawless. During the revolution which was inaugurated 

2K* 



390 FREQUENCY OF MURDERS. 

and carried on by them, and indeed for years after they 
had secured their independence, many of the border set- 
tlers held themselves amenable to no laws save those that 
were enforced at the muzzle of the revolver and the point 
of the bowie-knife. Even as late as 1854, after the forms 
of statutory civil jurisdiction had been instituted under 
legislative enactment, and courts had been established, the 
authorities were, as a general rule, almost entirely disre- 
garded, and virtually set at defiance by the lawless desper- 
adoes along the borders, and crimes of the greatest turpi- 
tude were perpetrated almost daily. 

The law officers seldom, if ever, took cognizance of cases 
where men were killed in personal encounters, and often- 
times the most foul and premeditated murders were allowed 
to pass by unnoticed. 

To such an extent were these atrocities sometimes car- 
ried, that the better classes of the people, seeing the impo- 
tence of the legal authorities, and, in some instances, their 
probable complicity with the perpetrators of the crimes, 
would become roused to such a pitch of indignation that 
they occasionally took the law into their own hands, and 
executed summary justice according to the code of Judge 
Lynch. 

Murderers were often allowed to escape trial or punish- 
ment, but it was seldom that a man who had been guilty 
of horse-stealing could avoid the extreme penalty of Lynch 
law ; this was looked upon by them as the most unpardon- 
able offense known to their legal calendar, and public sen- 
timent was unanimous in pronouncing this a capital crime, 
only to be expiated at the end of the halter. 

While I was stationed upon the Eio Grande, a quiet, re- 
spectable citizen, whom I happened to know, arrived at Eio 
Grande City, opposite Comargo, and, entering a billiard sa- 
loon, seated himself to observe the game. He had not been 



A DESPERADO. 391 

there long before a man who was an entire stranger to him 
came in and blustered around a good deal, with the evident 
intention of creating a disturbance. He made frequent in- 
sulting remarks to persons in the room, endeavoring to 
bully them into a quarrel, but they did not seem disposed 
to come in collision with him. At length, however, he ap- 
proached the stranger, and in an insulting tone said, " Per- 
haps you may have someth'ing to say about it?" 

"About what, sir?" he replied. 

" Why, sir, about my being the best man in all Texas. 
I make this assertion, and would like to see the man who 
presumed to differ with me upon ih&t subject." 

The stranger was so much annoyed at these impertinent 
remarks that he replied, " In my opinion, you, instead of 
being the best, are about the worst man I have met with in 
the state." This brought on a quarrel, which resulted in 
both parties drawing their revolvers, and firing several 
shots at each other in rapid succession. The man who gave 
the insult was killed, and the other was so severely wound- 
ed that he could not stand. 

At this juncture a notorious desperado entered the estab- 
lishment, and seeing the two men lying upon the floor, de- 
manded to know what had happened, and on being in- 
formed, drew his revolver, went up to the living man, who 
was stretched out perfectly powerless, and told him he in- 
tended taking his life. The man begged of him to allow 
him to see a friend in town for a moment, in order to make 
some arrangements about his family affairs. He told him 
he would not permit it, and, holding the pistol near his 
head, deliberately fired several balls into his brain, either 
of which was sufficient to take his life ; after which he 
walked around the dead body of his victim for several 
hours, defying every body, and challenging the community 
to attempt his arrest. No one, however, felt disposed to 



392 MAJOR NEIGHBORS. 

encounter the fiend, and he was suffered to remain unmo- 
lested in town until the lollowing day, when he mounted 
his horse and quietly rode off. 

These facts were related to me by a respectable gentle- 
man of the place, who was an eyewitness to at least a por- 
tion of the tragedy, and who made an effort to get up a par- 
ty to lynch the murderer; but the friends of the latter were, 
so numerous that he was very ^ad to suspend proceedings. 
The last time I heard of the desperado he was living at 
San Antonio, and, for aught I know, is there still. 

My friend, Major Neighbors, whom I have several times 
before alluded to, related to me the following incident in 
his experience among the early settlers of Texas : 

He was, during the revolution, attached to the army in 
the capacity of quartermaster, and upon one occasion had 
purchased a quantity of corn from a farmer somewhere in 
the neighborhood of Austin ; but, for want of the means of 
transportation, could not remove it at the time, and ar- 
ranged with the vendor to keep it in store until it could be 
sent for. After a considerable lapse of time he procured 
wagons and went for the corn ; but, on his arrival, the per- 
son from whom it was purchased stated that he had a claim 
against the government, and should not allow the grain to 
be taken away until this claim was liquidated. The major 
replied that, as the corn had already been paid for, he 
should certainly take it, and accordingly directed his men 
to load up the wagons, which was done; but, as he was 
about leaving, the man assured him that before he reached 
Austin the corn would certainly be taken from him. The 
major comprehended the import of the threat, and told the 
man that he should encamp at a certain spring, where he 
could be found until nine o'clock on the following morn- 
ing, and that he should be ready to receive any proposi- 
tions he might have to make. He knew the man to be of 



ABATING A NUISANCE. 393 

desperate character, and anticipated trouble with him. He 
therefore, on the following morning, cleaned, recharged, and 
recapped his rifle, and awaited the issue. About nine 
o'clock the man rode up with several of his associates, all 
fully armed, and apparently prepared for battle ; but the 
friends of the man did not seem disposed to engage in the 
contest, and held a little back, while the principal individ- 
ual dismounted and took a position behind an unoccupied 
log hut, from whence he would occasionally show himself 
around the corner and fire at the major with his revolver, 
but did not hit him. The major then placed his rifle to his 
shoulder, and, when his antagonist made his appearance 
again, drew trigger ; but the gun missed fire. He put on a 
new cap, and missed the second time. He then deliberate- 
ly pricked some powder into the cone, and recapped the 
rifle, while, in the mean time, his antagonist was firing sev- 
eral shots at him, none of which took effect. Then, raising 
his rifle again, he fired, shot the man through the brain, 
and he fell dead in his tracks. His companions then ap- 
proached, and congratulated the major on having performed 
a meritorious act in ridding the country of a bad subject, 
who was a nuisance to the whole neighborhood. 

Major Neighbors was attached to the celebrated Mier 
expedition, and was taken prisoner, marched to the city of 
Mexico, and thence to Pueblo, where he and his compan- 
ions received very harsh treatment at the hands of the 
Mexicans. He informed me that himself and' five comrades 
were every morning harnessed into a cart and conducted 
by a guard to the city market, where supplies for the day 
were procured, and hauled by this novel six-man team back 
to the prison. 

Notwithstanding the rigor of their treatment here, the 
major said they were generally in good spirits, and many 
practical jokes were perpetrated upon the simple-minded 



394 A YANKEE TEAM. 

soldiers who had them in charge. The " off lead'''' man in 
the team before mentioned was very conspicuous in this 
regard ; indeed, he seemed utterly unable to resist improv- 
ing an opportunity for a good joke. As an instance, one 
morning, while they were being driven into the market, 
they were passing the stall of a very old Mexican woman, 
whose peculiarly fantastic costume, and shriveled, haggard 
countenance gave her more the appearance of a fiend than 
a human being. As soon as the off leader caught a glimpse 
of this hideous old woman, he cast a wink back at his com- 
rades, and, suddenly raising his head and snorting like a 
horse, started off in a trot, sheering around her, and gradu- 
ally turning his head in imitation of a horse who shuns a 
suspicious-looking object. All the other men entered into 
the spirit of the joke, and followed him around, pretending 
to be prodigiously frightened, and they all with one accord 
set out at full speed down the Jalapa Road, with the cart 
rattling along over the pavement behind them, and pursued 
by the astonished guard, calling out in Spanish at the top 
of their voices for them to halt. They paid no attention to 
the order, but continued on for nearly a mile before the 
guard was able to get around them and arrest their head- 
way. The officer then came up, very much blown, and in 
a most excited and angry tone demanded to know what 
they meant by such insubordinate conduct. The "o^'Zmc?- 
er," who was the originator of the joke, asked him if he did 
not observe that horrible old hag sitting in the market- 
place. "Was that what frightened you so?" said the offi- 
cer. "Why, certainly," he replied; "she did it, and we 
could not help running away : did she not scare you too ?" 
"No," he answered, slapping his breast, "I am a soldier, 
and am not intimidated by such trifles." They were then 
taken back to the market, and as they approached near the 
old woman, the officer, observing, as he thought, some indi- 



GENERAL HOUSTON. 395 

cations of another stampede, ordered two of his men to take 
the leaders by the heads, and conduct them by a wide cir- 
cuit around the object of their supposed terror. 

They overheard the officer report the affair to the com- 
mander of the fort on their return, and the latter affirmed, 
as his candid opinion, that " los Gringos'^ (Yankees) were 
great cowards after all. 

In 1854 I had the pleasure of meeting Colonel McLeod, 
who commanded the expedition to Santa Fe in 1841, so 
graphically described by Mr. Kendall in his interesting nar- 
rative of that expedition. Colonel McLeod was at one time 
adjutant general of the republic of Texas when General 
Houston was president, and he related to me several very 
amusing anecdotes in relation to the general. I can not, of 
course, give them to the reader in his peculiarly felicitous 
and happy style, but I will attempt to convey as correct an 
idea of the substance of one or two of them as possible. 

At one time a large force of volunteers had been called 
out to resist the encroachments of a numerous band of In- 
dians, who were reported as advancing on ISTacogdoches. 
These troops were placed under command of General Rusk, 
afterward United States Senator, and were composed of 
frontier rangers, every man of whom considered himself 
as good as the president, secretary of war, or any other dig- 
nitary in the universe. 

After the troops had been assembled, they were all desir- 
ous of encountering the savages, and felt very confident of 
their ability to defeat them ; but it appears that the presi- 
dent, who was at General Eusk's head-quarters, entertained 
a different opinion, and either entered into a treaty, or made 
some other arrangements by which the Indians were al- 
lowed to escape without a battle. The troops were then dis- 
banded and authorized to return home. On the following 
day the streets of Nacogdoches were filled with them, and 



396 QUIETING A VOLUNTEEK. 

there was a general jollification; but, at the same time, it 
appeared that great dissatisfaction was entertained against 
the president for his pacific action in the matter, and some 
of them did not hesitate to give expression to their fyelings 
in open denunciations of his course. 

During the day Generals Houston and Rusk and Col- 
onel McLeod were walking through the streets, when they 
came near a large collection of men, and in their midst was 
a young and stalwart disbanded volunteer, who had prob- 
ably taken several drinks, and was expatiating in a most 
excited and vociferous manner to the people around him. 

The trio halted, and General Houston said, " It seems to 
■ me, General Rusk, that you do not preserve very good or- 
der or discipline among your men." 

General Rusk replied that these men were disbanded, 
and they were not then subject to his control. "Well, 
Rusk," said the general, "come along with me, and I'll 
show you how to dispose of such disorderly crowds." Col- 
onel McLeod thought he would like to witness the gener- 
al's method of enforcing discipline among the ^^ Mustangs,'^ 
and the three set off together. It was with great difficulty 
that they were enabled to penetrate the dense mass of men 
to where the unruly speaker was holding forth, but, by dint 
of a good deal of hard squeezing, twisting, and turning, 
they at length found themselves confronting the speaker, 
when General Houston, in a very mild and amiable tone 
of voice, after placing his hand on the young man's shoul- 
der and looking him in the eye, said, " Are you not aware, 
my young friend, that you are disturbing the peace and 
quiet of this community, and that, too, sir, in the presence 
of the President of the Republic?" The young man, who 
the instant before had been screaming at the highest pitch 
of his voice and gesticulating in the most excited manner, 
suddenly ceased his harangue, and, turning upon the gen- 



A HARD CASE. 897 

eral, in a low but very emphatic tone, said, '■'•Are you Sam 
Houston V 

"I am, sir," he replied. 

"Are you the President of the Eepublic ?" 

"Yes, my young friend, I have the honor to bear that 
distinguished cognomen." 

At this the young man closed his fists, and, springing 
like a tiger upon the general, knocked him down, while at 
the same time he exclaimed, "Well, d — n you, Sam Hous- 
ton, you are the very man I wanted to see;" and it was 
with great difficulty that they extricated the poor old man 
from the clutches of the infuriated volunteer. 

The stoical indifference with which the frontiersman sub- 
mits to misfortunes of the most disastrous character is strik- 
ingly exhibited in the following incident, which is related 
by Captain Burton in his work^ the "City of the Saints." 
A man, traveling upon the desert of the Humboldt, was pass- 
ing a solitary wagon standing in the road, without any team 
attached, "and, seeing a wretched - looking lad nursing a 
starving baby, asks him what the matter may be. ' Wall, 
now,' responds the youth, 'guess I'm kinder streakt. Ole 
dad's drunk ; ole mom's got the /^y-sterics ; brother Jim be 
playing poker with two gamblers ; sister Sal's down thar a 
courtin' of a en-tire stranger ; this yere baby's got the di- 
aree the wust sort ; the team's clean guv out ; the wagon's 
broke down ; it's twenty miles to the next water — I don't 
care a ef I never seg Californey.' " 

Another illustration will suffice to establish the philo- 
sophical and recuperative nature of these people : 

Governor , of Territory, was questioned 

by an Eastern friend regarding the character and resources 

of the country over which his official jurisdiction extended. 

The governor, who was of sanguine temperament, replied 

that it was generally regarded as possessing advantages over 

2L 



398 BANNOCK OR BUST. 

almost any other of our new Territories ; indeed, he said he 
had never seen or heard of but one man who was not cap- 
tivated with it, and that individual did not remain long 
enough to thoroughly appreciate its merits. The person 
he alluded to was bound for Bannock, and had met with a 
good many accidents upon the road, such as losing his cat- 
tle, breaking his wagon, and in various other ways, which 
would have disheartened most men ; but he was by no 
means discouraged, and pushed forward with unabated vigor 
until he lost all his animals except one ox and a small cow. 
These, as a dernier resort, he yoked together, and they con- 
stituted the only remaining motive power for his wagon. 
Still he was undaunted in his purpose to accomplish the 
journey he had undertaken, and, as an evidence of this 
fact, he had, with a piece of charcoal, written in large char- 
acters upon the side of his wagon/'' Bannock or husV At 
length, however, the severe labor proved too much for the 
poor cow, and she died ; and, as if to complete the catalogue 
of his disasters, his only remaining animal took it into his 
head to stampede, and he was then left without any means 
of transportation. .About this time the governor was pass- 
ing, and observed the man sitting over a small fire in rather 
a disconsolate mood, but apparently endeavoring to keep 
up his spirits by whistling " Hail Columbia !" The inscrip- 
tion upon his wagon, however, had been erased, and a new 
one substituted in its place, as follows — ^^ Busted^ hy thun- 
der T 



MOUNTAINEERS. 399 



CHAPTER XIII. 

MOUNTAINEERS. 

Mountaineers. — Jim Bridger. — His Troubles with the "Danites." — Sir 
George Gore. — Tim Goodale and Jim Baker. — Bear Fight. — Singular 
Duel. — Mariano. — Mr. Clyburn. — His Adventures in the Mountains. — 
His Return to the Settlements. — Narrow Escape on Rock River. — Indian 
Law. 

Scattered here and there throughout the wilds of the 
Rocky Mountains are still remaining a few of those semi- 
civilized white men called "mountaineers," who wandered 
from their homes in the Border States early in life, and en- 
listed in the service of the different fur companies. Many 
of these peculiar and interesting people have spent the 
greater portion of their lives and grown gray in the rough 
and adventurous life incident to their occupations as hunt- 
ers and trappers, and the history of their experiences teems 
with thrilling incident and reckless personal adventure. 

At the time the American and Northwest Fur Companies 
were at the height of their prosperity, and when beaver fur 
was worth ten dollars a pound, these men were employed 
in Montreal, St. Louis, and other places on the frontier for 
a term of years, and from the time they left the settle- 
ments until their return they seldom tasted bread, sugar, 
tea, coffee, or vegetables. Like the prairie Indians, almost 
their only subsistence from one year's end to another con- 
sisted of fresh meat, and even this was only supplied by the 
precarious results of the chase. The rifle furnished their 
entire commissariat, and, as a necessary consequence in a 



400 JIM BRIDGER. 

locality where game did not abound, they were often sub- 
jected to great suffering from hunger. 

Notwithstanding the privations and perils to which these 
people were constantly exposed, and the slender pecuniary 
profits which they derived from their avocations, strange 
as it may appear^ I have yet to see the first one of them 
who did not become fascinated with the life, and it is sel- 
dom if ever they can be prevailed upon to abandon it. It 
seems to possess for them a charm of excitement and ro- 
mance which no other occupation can supply. 

I have known several of these men who returned to the 
settlements after years spent in the Indian country, intend- 
ing to abandon their roving life; but they soon became 
restless and discontented, and, after a brief period, went 
back to the mountains and resumed the habits of the trap- 
per. 

Among these people, one of the most interesting speci- 
mens it has been my fortune to meet with, and one who oc- 
cupies an exalted position among his confreres as a success- 
ful trapper and hunter, and who has no superior as a relia- 
ble guide and bold Indian fighter, is the well-known veter- 
an mountaineer Jwi Bridger, who has passed the major por- 
tion of his solitary life in the Eocky Mountains, far re- 
moved from all intercourse with civilized society. 

When I first met him at Fort Laramie in 1857, he was a 
man about sixty years of age, tall, thin, wiry, and with a 
complexion well bronzed by toil and exposure, with an in- 
dependent, generous, and open cast of countenance indica- 
tive of brave and noble impulses, which are characteristics 
of the hunter generally. His history, pregnant as it . is 
with scenes of startling personal incident, interested me su- 
premely. 

Bridger was a native of the "Old Dominion," and had 
come to the head waters of the Missouri about thirty-four 



JIM BRIDGER. 401 

years before, and was there engaged for many years in 
trapping. From thence he wandered south into California, 
and ultimately established himself upon Black's Fork of 
Green Eiver, one of the two principal tributaries of the 
Colorado of California. Here he erected an establishment 
which he called Fort Bridger, and here he was for several 
years prosecuting a profitable traffic both with the Indians 
and with California emigrants. At length, however, his 
prosperity excited the cupidity of the Mormons, and they 
intimated to him that his presence in such close proximity 
to their settlements was not agreeable, and advised him to 
pull up stakes and leave forthwith ; and upon his question- 
ing the legality or justice of this arbitrary summons, they 
came to his place with a force of " avenging angels," and 
forced him to make his escape to the woods in order to 
save his life. He remained secreted for several days, and, 
through the assistance of his Indian wife, was enabled to 
elude the search of the Danites^ and make his way to Fort 
Laramie, leaving all his cattle and other property in posses- 
sion of the Mormons. 

From Laramie he, for the first time in thirty-one years, 
returned to the States, and laid his case before the authori- 
ties at Washington, and he was on his return when I met 
him. As may be imagined, he did not entertain the most 
friendly feelings for the '■^Latter-day Saints^'' and he would 
not probably have gone very far out of his way to have 
saved their scidps, as he termed the savages' battle trophy. 

Bridger had been the guide, interpreter, and companion 
of that distinguished Irish sportsman. Sir George Gore, 
whose peculiar tastes led him in 1855 to abandon the lux- 
urious life of Europe and bury himself for over two years 
among the savages in the wildest and most unfrequented 
glens of the Rocky Mountains. 

The outfit and adventures of this titled Nimrod, conduct- 

2L* 



■±02 SIR GEORGE GORE. 

ed as they were upon a most gigantic scale, probably ex- 
ceeded any thing of the kind ever before attempted on this 
continent, and the results of his exploits will compare favor- 
ably with the performances of Gordon Gumming in Africa. 

Some conception may be formed of the magnitude of his 
equipment when it is stated that his party consisted of 
about fifty persons, comprising secretaries, steward, cooks, 
fly-makers, dog-tenders, hunters, servants, etc., etc. He was 
provided with a train of thirty wagons, besides numerous 
saddle-horses and dogs. 

I met Sir George at St. Louis soon after his j-eturn from 
the mountains, and found him affable and communicative. 
He related to me several of his adventures with the In- 
dians, and showed me his guns of various descriptions and 
calibres, suited to the destruction of all kinds of game, and 
upon them I observed the names of Joe Manton, Purdy, 
Westley Richards, and other celebrated makers. 

He informed me that during his protracted hunt he had 
slaughtered the enormous aggregate of forty grizzly bears, 
twenty -five hundred buffaloes, besides numerous elk, deer, 
antelope, and other small game. He had brought back 
with him a host of trophies, which would be abundant 
vouchers for his performances on his return home. 

Some persons will probably think it a very strange in- 
fatuation that a nobleman like Sir George, possessing an 
income of some $200,000 per annum, should voluntarily 
withdraw from all society, and retire to the wilderness 
among savages for two long years, exposed to all the perils 
and privations consequent upon such a life ; but I assure 
the denizens of cities that he required no sympathy from 
them, as he was one of those enthusiastic, ardent sportsmen 
who derived more real satisfaction and pleasure from one 
day's successful hunting than can possibly be imagined by 
those who have never participated in this exhilarating and 



LITERATUKE, 403 

healthful amusement. Besides, he returned home with a 
renovated constitution, good health and spirits, and a new 
lease of perhaps ten years to his life, and, finally, he had 
seen something of life out of the ordinary beaten track of 
the great mass of other tourists, 

Bridger often spoke to me about Sir George Gore, and 
always commended him as a bold, dashing, and successful 
sportsman, a social companion, and an agreeable gentleman. 

Sir George's habit was to sleep until about ten or eleven 
o'clock in the morning, when he took his bath, ate his 
breakfast, and set out generally alone for the day's hunt ; 
and Bridger says it was not unusual for him to remain out 
until ten o'clock at night, and he, seldom returned to camp 
without augmenting the catalogue of his exploits. 

His dinner was then ordered, to partake of which he 
generally extended an invitation to my friend Bridger, 
and after the repast was concluded, and a few glasses of 
wine had been drunk, he was in the habit of reading from 
some book, and eliciting from Bridger his comments there- 
on. His favorite author was Shakspeare, which Bridger 
" reckon'd was a leetle too highfalutin for him ;" more- 
over, he remarked that he " ray ther calculated that thar big 
Dutchman, Mr. Full-stuff, was a leetle bit too fond of lager 
beer," and suggested that probably it might have been bet- 
ter for the old man if he had imbibed the same amount of 
alcohol in the more condensed medium of good old Bour- 
bon whisky. 

Bridger seemed deeply interested in the adventures of 
Baron Munchausen, but admitted, after the reading was 
finished, that "he be dogond ef he swallered every thing 
that thar Baren Mountchawson said, and he thout he was a 
durn'd liar." Yet, upon farther reflection, he acknowledged 
that some of his own experience among the Blackfeet would 
be equally marvelous, '■'■ ef xvrit down in a book.^^ 



404 GOODALE AND BAKER. 

One evening Sir George entertained his auditor by read- 
ing to him Sir Walter Scott's account of the battle of Wa- 
terloOj and afterward asked him if he did not regard that as 
the most sanguinary battle he had ever heard of. To which 
Bridger replied, " Wall, now, Mr. Gore, that thar must 'a bin 
a considdible of a skrimmage, dogon my skin ef it mustn't; 
them Britishers must 'a fit better thar than they did down 
to Horleans, whar Old Hickry gin um the forkedest sort 
o' chaiu-lightnin' that prehaps you ever did see in all yer 
born days !" And upon Sir George's expressing a little in- 
credulity in regard to the estimate Bridger placed upon this 
battle, the latter added, "You can jist go yer pile on it, Mr. 
Gore — you can, as sure as yer born." 

Two veteran mountaineers, Tim Goodale and Jim Baker, 
accompanied me as guides when I made my expedition over 
the Eocky Mountains from Fort Bridger to New Mexico, 
during the winter of 1857-8, to procure supplies for our lit- 
tle army in Utah, and I am under great obligations to them 
for the valuable assistance they rendered me in overcoming 
the formidable obstacle presented by the deep snows we 
encountered upon the lofty summits of those sierras, and I 
shall never cease to regard them with the liveliest interest 
and friendship. Tim Goodale was an intelligent man, of 
fair education, and had traveled across the continent several 
times to California. He had lived for many years among 
the Indians, and had trapped beaver upon the head waters 
of the Missouri, Columbia, and Colorado. He was an inti- 
mate friend of Kit Carson, and they had often spread their 
blankets together in their mountain bivouac. 

Baker was a man of more limited experience and educa- 
tion, but a generous, noble-hearted specimen of the trapper 
type, who would peril his life for a friend at any time, or 
divide his last morsel of food. 

He was born in Illinois, and lived at home until he was 



GOODALE AND BAKER. 405 

eighteen years of age, when he enlisted in the American 
Fur Company, went to the mountains, and had remained 
there evec since. He had married a wife, according to the 
Indian custom, from the Snake tribe, and had lived with 
the Indians for several years, adopting many of their hab- 
its, ideas, and superstitions. He firmly believed in the effi- 
cacy of the charms and incantations of the ^'^ medicine-men^^ 
in curing diseases and divining where their enemy was to 
be found, predicting the results of war expeditions, etc. 
Unfortunately, however, for my friend Jim, he would oc- 
casionally allow himself to take a glass of whisky beyond 
what he could discreetly carry, and, when in this condition, 
would sometimes coxmmt faux pas. 

When I first met him, I inquired if he had traveled much 
over the settled part of the United States before he came 
out into the mountains, to which he replied, "Eight smart, 
Cap." I then asked whether he had visited New York. 
He said he had not, "Have you been in New Orleans?" 
" No, I hasn't been to Horleans, Cap., but I'll tell you whar 
I have been : I've traveled mighty nigh all over four coun- 
ties in the State of Illinois !" and this, it appeared, was the 
extent of his wanderings before leaving home. 

Jim seemed fond of his squaw and children, and usually 
treated them very kindly ; but his friend, Tim Goodale, in- 
formed me that, upon one occasion, when he had taken a 
drop of liquor too much, he came into his lodge, and ex- 
pressed serious doubts regarding the faithfulness of his 
wife ; whereupon Tim assured him that he had no grounds 
for his suspicions, and endeavored to convince him of his 
injustice, but without success. Jim was very indignant, 
seized his hunting-knife, and, with an oath, said, " I'll cut 
off one of her ears, Tim ;" and it was with great difficulty 
that his friend prevailed upon him to desist from carrying 
his purpose into execution. This was one of the Indian 



406 SKULPING GRIZZLIES. 

methods of punishing a truant spouse, and it seemed to Jim 
the most appropriate for the present occasion. 

When we reached the settlements in New Mexico, after 
passing over the mountains, Baker concluded he would, for 
the time being, cast aside his leggins, moccasins, and other 
mountain gear, and adopt a civilized wardrobe ; according- 
ly, he supplied himself with a complete outfit, and when I 
met him shortly afterward he had undergone an entire 
metamorphose. I remarked that I should hardly have 
known him, so great was the change, He did not appear 
to appreciate the compliment, however, and said, " Con- 
found these yere store butes. Cap. ; they choke my feet like 
hell." It was the first time in twenty years that he had 
worn any thing but moccasins upon his feet, and they were 
not prepared for the severe torture inflicted by the break- 
ing in of a pair of badly -fitting new boots. He soon cast 
them aside, and resumed the softer foot-gear of the mount- 
ains. 

Jim Baker had been in at the death of many a grizzly 
bear, and related to me a number of thrilling accounts of 
his encounters with this formidable quadruped. On one 
occasion, while he was setting his traps, with a companion, 
on the head waters of Grand Eiver, they came suddenly 
upon two young grizzly bears, about the size of well-grown 
dogs. He remarked to his friend that if they could "pitch 
in and skulp the varmints with their knives," it would be 
an exploit to boast of. They accordingly laid aside their 
rifles and "went in," Bridger attacking one and his com- 
panion the other. He says the bears immediately raised 
themselves upon their haunches, and were ready for the 
encounter. He ran around, endeavoring to get an oppor- 
tunity to give a blow from behind with his long knife ; but 
the young brute was too quick for him, and turned as he 
passed around so as always to confront him face to face. 



SKULPING GRIZZLIES. 409 

He knew if he came within reach of his paws that, although 
young,, he could inflict a formidable blow ; moreover, he 
felt great apprehensions that the piteous howls set up by 
the cubs would bring the infuriated dam to their rescue, 
when their chances for escape would be small. These 
thoughts passing rapidly through his mind made him ex- 
ceedingly nervous, and anxious to terminate the combat as 
soon as possible. He made many desperate lunges at the 
bear, but the animal invariably warded them off with his 
fore paws like a pugilist, and protected his body at the ex- 
pense of several severe cuts upon his legs. This, however, 
only served to exasperate him, and at length he took the 
offensive, and, with his mouth frothing with rage, he bound- 
ed toward Baker, who grappled with him and gave him a 
death-wound under the ribs. While all this was going on 
his companion had been furiously fighting the other bear, 
and by this time had become greatly exhausted, and the 
odds were turning decidedly against him. He entreated 
Baker to come to his assistance at once, which he did ; but, 
much to his astonishment, as soon as he entered the second 
contest his companion ran off, leaving him to fight the bat- 
tle alone. He was, however, again victorious, and soon had 
the satisfaction of seeing his two antagonists stretched out 
lifeless before him ; but he firmly resolved never again to 
make war on a bear with a hunting-knife, saying that he 
would "never fight narry nother grizzly without a good 
shootin-iron in his paws." 

Like the mountaineers generally, Baker was liberal to a 
fault, and eminently improvident. He had made a great 
deal of money in trading and trapping, but, at the annual 
rendezvous of the traders, would spend the earnings of a 
season in a few days' jollification. He told me that during 
one season he had been particularly successful in accumu- 
lating a very large amount of furs, from which he realized 

2M 



410 NOVEL DUEL. 

the handsome sum of about nine thousand dollars, and he 
resolved that he would abandon his mountain life, return 
to the settlements, purchase a farm, and endeavor to live 
comfortably for the remainder of his days. He accordingly 
made his preparations to leave, and was upon the point of 
departure, when a friend invited him to visit a monte bank 
which had been opened in camp. He was easily persuaded 
to take a little social parting amusement with his old 
friends, whom he might never meet again, and accepted the 
invitation, the result of which was that the aguardiente cir- 
culated freely, and the following morning found him with- 
out a cent of money ; he had lost every thing. His entire 
plans were thus frustrated, and he returned to the hunting- 
grounds with the Indians, where he had remained ever 
since. 

The last time I saw Jim was on my return to the States 
from Utah. He had established a little store at the cross- 
ing of Green River, and had for some time been doing a 
fair business in trafficking with the emigrants and trading 
with the Indians ; but, shortly before my arrival, a French- 
man had made his appearance there, and set up a rival es- 
tablishment, which divided the limited trade, and very ma- 
terially reduced the profits of Baker's business. 

This engendered a bitter spirit of competition and hos- 
tility, which soon culminated in a cessation of all social in- 
tercourse between them ; and, about the time of my arrival, 
it had reached such a pitch that I found Baker standing in 
his door, with a pistol loaded and cocked in each hand, 
pretty drunk and immensely excited. I dismounted, and 
asked him the cause of all this disturbance. He replied, 
" That thar yaller-bellied, toad-eatin parly-voo over thar, 
and me, we've been havin a small chance of a skrimmage 
to-day, we have. Cap." I remonstrated with him upon his 
folly, but he continued : " The sneakin polecat, I'll raise 



MARIANO. 411 

his har yet. I'll sculp him, Cap., ef he don't quit these yeare 
diggins." 

It appeared that they had an altercation in the morning, 
which ended in a challenge, when they ran to their respect- 
ive cabins, seized their revolvers, and from the doors, that 
were only about one hundred yards apart, fired at each 
other. They then retired into the cabins, took a drink of 
whisky, reloaded their pistols, and again renewed the com- 
bat. This peculiar duel had been kept up for several hours 
when I arrived, but, fortunately for them, the whisky had 
produced such an effect upon their nerves that their aim 
was very unsteady, and none of their many shots had as 
yet taken effect. 

I took away Baker's pistols, telling him that I was great- 
ly astonished to find that a man of his usually good sense 
should make such a fool of himself. He submitted quietly, 
saying that he knew I was his friend, but he did not think 
I would wish to have him take insults from a cowardly 
Frenchman. 

The following morning at daylight Jim called at my 
camp to bid me good-by, and expressed great regret at what 
had transpired the day before. He said this was the first 
time since his return from New Mexico that he had allowed 
himself to drink whisky, and when the whisky was in him 
he had " narry sense." 

Another peculiar specimen of the mountaineer genus 
who accompanied me over the mountains was a half-breed 
Frenchman and Indian by the name of Mariano. He had 
spent all his life among the Indians, and for many years 
had been in the service of the American and Northwest Fur 
Companies. Besides the French, Spanish, and English, he 
spoke the languages of several of the Indian tribes with 
whom he had lived. 

He was an intimate friend of the old patriarch mountain- 



412 MR. CLYBURN. 

eer Jack Robinson, and when I met him their lodges were 
pitched in the same valley. 

While we were making our slow progress up the western 
slope of the Rocky Mountains through snow from three to 
five feet deep, at the rate of two or three miles a day, I found 
Mariano's experience in the high northern latitudes, and 
the ready resources which he always had at hand for every 
emergency, of great service to me. 

For example, he found a substitute for tea in the wild 
mint which abounded in the line of our march, and a fair 
imitation of tobacco was supplied by the inner bark of the 
red willow. 

Mariano's qualities have been more fully shown in an- 
other part of the book. 

While traveling in Wisconsin in the winter of 1835, 1 fell 
in with a remarkably interesting and intelligent man by the 
name of Clyburn, who accompanied me from Sheboygan to 
Green Bay. 

At that early period in the settlement of this now dense- 
ly-populated state there was not a house between the two 
places mentioned, and the only approximation to a road 
was a narrow Indian trail, without a tree cut down or a 
bridge made upon it. 

I found Mr. Clyburn a very pleasant traveling companion, 
and he very kindly whiled away the monotony of our long 
and solitary ride through that dense wilderness by relating 
to me several thrilling incidents in the history of his highly 
eventful career. As his character for honor and veracity 
are fully established, and will, I dare say, be vouched for 
by the early settlers of Milwaukee, the reader may rest per- 
fectly assured that every word of his narrative has the im- 
press of reality and truth. 

He informed me that at an early period in his life (some- 
where about the year 1820 I think it was) he enlisted 



TRAPPING. 413 

at St. Louis to serve for five years in the private fur enter- 
prise organized by General Ashley, and with this company 
he went immediately to the head waters of the Missouri, 
where he followed the vocation of trapper and hunter dur- 
ing the entire term of his enlistment. 

It was the practice of the agents in charge of the busi- 
ness at that time to establish a grand depot for the deposit 
of goods and the reception of furs, after which the em- 
ployes were sent out in pairs and distributed over the best 
trapping-grounds throughout the mountains, each two men 
having a certain district of country assigned to them for 
the season. 

Mr. Clyburn and a companion were at one time assigned 
to a district within the country frequented by the Blackfeet 
Indians, who had always manifested a most implacable 
spirit of hostility to the whites, and made war upon them 
whenever they met. j^ 

The two companions, however, exercised the greatest 
possible precaution in carrying on their trapping opera- 
tions, setting and visiting their traps only at early dawn 
and late in the evening, and lying concealed in some soli- 
tary mountain glen during the daytime. Thus they con- 
tinued their business during the entire season without 
having been at all molested by their Indian enemies, and 
they were richly rewarded for their labors by unusual suc- 
cess. They had accumulated a large amount of valuable 
furs, which they packed upon their horses, and started to 
return to the depot with them. After traveling a short 
distance, they determined to cross a stream which lay in 
their route, and had already entered a grove of timber that 
covered the bottom lands, when all at once, to their perfect 
amazement and horror, they emerged directly into a huge 
encampment of Blackfeet Indians. Mr. Clyburn, who was, 

under all circumstances, cool and self-possessed, motioned 

2M* 



■il4 BLACKFEET HOSPITALITY. 

to bis companion to follow liim, and rode directly up to the 
chief's lodge, telling him by signs that they were friends, 
had come into his camp to pass the night, and claimed his 
protection, thinking that this appeal to his hospitality, one 
of the most prominent of the savages' virtues (if they pos- 
sess any traits of character that are worthy that appella- 
tion), might touch his pride, and possibly induce, him to 
spare their lives. The chief received them very coldly, 
told them to dismount and sit down, and ordered some of 
his wives to unpack their horses and give them supper. 
He then required them to give an account of themselves, 
and imperiously demanded to know how they dare pre- 
sume to intrude upon his hunting-grounds, to all of which 
they gave the most discreet replies they could invent upon 
the spur of the occasion ; but the chief was evidently very 
far from being satisfied or kindly disposed toward them. 
The squaws set some buffalo meat before them, and their 
savage host in a very surly and dictatorial manner told 
them "to eatf but, although they had been traveling a long 
time, and, under ordinary circumstances, would have done 
ample justice to the fare, yet their surroundings upon the 
present occasion were of such a character as almost entirely 
to take away their appetites. They, however, in order to 
do away with any exhibition of alarm on their part, forced 
themselves to swallow some of the meat, then lit their pipes 
and commenced smoking. Shortly after this, Clyburn, who 
understood a little of the Blackfeet language, overheard the 
chief tell some of his warriors that he and his companion 
must be put to death. Now the encampment was situated 
directly upon the river bank, and the chief's lodge where 
they were seated was about a hundred yards distant. As 
soon as Clyburn learned the fate which the Indians had in 
store for them, he immediately resolved upon the course he 
should pursue, and very quietly, in a low tone of voice, in- 



NARROW ESCAPE. 415 

formed his friend what be had overheard, at the same time 
directing him, as the only chance for saving their lives, to 
keep constant watch upon his own movements, and to do 
precisely as he did. He waited until nearly dark, when he 
found an opportunity at a time the Indians seemed off their 
guard, and had their eyes turned in another direction, to 
spring to his feet, and with lightning speed to run rapidly 
toward the river. His friend followed, but the Indians in- 
stantly gave the war-cry, and, seizing their arms, pursued 
them closely, firing many balls and arrows, some of which 
passed in most disagreeable proximity to his person. He, 
however, had the good fortune to reach the river, and 
jumped in, diving deeply, and striking out with desperate 
strides for the opposite shore, which he reached in safety, 
and hid himself under the shelving bank. Here he awaited 
in great anxiety for some time, until the Indians had given 
up the search and returned to their camps, when he crawled 
out and endeavored to get some trace of his friend, but 
none was found, and he was never heard of afterward, so 
that he must have been murdered by the savages. 

My friend Clyburn was now reduced to first principles. 
He had lost all his horses, guns, and traps, besides the pro- 
ceeds of a year's labor. Indeed, he now found himself to- 
tally destitute of every thing except the clothes upon his 
back. He was very far from being discouraged, however, 
and started at once for the rendezvous, where he arrived a 
few days afterward, and, providing himself with another 
outfit and companion, he returned to the trapping-grounds 
with as good a heart as ever. This kind of life he pursued 
until the expiration of his term of service, when, unlike the. 
most of the mountaineers, he resolved to go back to his 
home, and for the future lead a civilized life. Accord- 
ingly, after bidding adieu to his friends, he embarked in 
one of the fleet of Mackinaw boats which were annually 



416 START FOR HOME. 

sent by the company with their furs down the Missouri 
River to St. Louis. In the course of their trip they arrived 
at the upper end of a narrow peninsula, made by a very 
long detour in the river, which rendered it necessary for 
the boats to pass many miles around, while the distance 
across the neck of the peninsula was comparatively very 
short. Thinking that perhaps he might find game here, he 
obtained permission from the man in charge of his boat to 
go ashore and take a hunt while the fleet was making the 
passage around the bend, expecting to re-embark at' the 
lower extremity. He accordingly passed several hours in 
hunting, without giving much heed to time, believing that 
he could easily reach the designated point before the ar- 
rival of the boats. On reaching the river bank, he seated 
himself and quietly awaited their coming, but he remained 
here one, two, and three hours without seeing them. 

Thinking that possibly they might have been delayed 
from some cause or other, he did not yet feel at all alarmed, 
but after remaining here hour after hour in anxious expec- 
tation until night, he began to think that the fleet must have 
passed before he arrived, and that he was left alone in the 
wilderness. He knew full well that the life of a trapper 
was of but little moment in the estimation of those in charge 
of the boats when put in comparison with the importance 
of securing a speedy transit for a year's accumulation of the 
company's furs, and he was also perfectly conscious of the 
fact that he had no reason to expect that they would make 
any halt on his account. 

He, however, still clung to the hope that the boats might 
yet be above him, and, after making a fire, took his station 
upon the bank to await their coming ; but the night passed 
and no boats appeared, and he was now reluctantly com- 
pelled to abandon all hopes of ever seeing them again. He 
possessed a very good general knowledge of the country. 



SOLITARY JOURNEY. 417 

and, as near as he could calculate, lie was at this point about 
a thousand miles from the fort at Council Bluffs, the nearest 
place where he could expect to reach a white man's habita- 
tion. He had his rifle, with eight charges of powder and 
ball, and with these he must provide himself with subsist- 
ence during the long and solitary journey before him, or 
perish in the attempt. It was a most appalling and des- 
perate alternative, yet he was not to be discouraged by tri- 
fles, and he at once set about making his preparations for 
departure. 

He struck out from the river bottom upon the prairies, 
and took his course for Council Bluffs, traveling day after 
day and night after night, and he says that, for several days 
and nights after he set out, he was under such a fearful state 
of anxiety in regard to his situation that he could neither 
sleep nor eat. He husbanded his ammunition with great 
care, only expending a charge when he became very hun- 
gry and was sure of his game. He would then eat all he 
could upon the spot, and carry with him the remainder. 
In this manner he continued on until he wore out his moc- 
casins and leggins, when the sharp prairie grass cut his 
feet and legs so badly that he suffered intense pain there- 
from. 

Days and weeks passed by, his eyes eagerly sweeping the 
field of vision in all directions. Not a solitary human be- 
ing made his appearance during the whole time. At length, 
after expending all his ammunition and consuming his last 
morsel of meat, he became greatly famished, and the only 
nutriment he now had was derived from a few grasshoppers 
and spiders which he met with in his track ; but these were 
very far from satisfying the cravings of his voracious appe- 
tite. He continued to press forward as long as he had a 
particle of strength remaining, hoping every moment to see 
some evidences of proximity to the fort, but on every side 



418 GREAT SUFFERING. 

of him was nothing but one vast expanse of dreary, deso- 
late prairie solitude ; and, finally, he became so much ex- 
hausted and so lame that he could go no farther, and was 
forced to the conclusion that he must die upon the prairie. 
The dread anticipation of such a death, in his enfeebled and 
famished state, induced a condition of mind bordering upon 
insanity, and, to add to his torture, the wolves now began 
to mark him as their victim, and followed on his track for 
several days, lapping the blood which dropped upon the 
grass from his lacerated feet and legs. 

In his delirious moments he would imagine himself raised 
from the earth, and carried with giant strides through the 
air. The wolves seemed to be transformed into savage 
Blackfeet warriors, who were bent upon his destruction, 
and he underwent all the mental torture their actual pres- 
ence would have produced. Still he staggered on, until 
exhausted nature entirely gave way, and he sank down 
upon the ground, expecting never to rise again. 

He fell into a most profound sleep, which he thinks must 
have continued many hours, and when he awoke, to his as- 
tonishment, he felt very much refreshed. His mental ab- 
erration had left him ; but it was with the greatest diffi- 
culty that he succeeded, after several efforts, in rising to his 
feet and slowly resuming his painful journey. His iron* 
will and indomitable firmness of purpose, however, aided 
by a powerful physique, enabled him to conquer obstacles 
which would have disheartened most men at the outset, and 
he again pushed forward with renewed vigor toward the 
fort. He traveled on without any sustenance until at length 
he became weary and exhausted again, and once more sank 
down powerless upon the ground, and he now abandoned 
all thoughts of ever rising again. He expected to die there, 
and consigned his soul to his Maker. Yet another deep 
sleep soon came over him, on awaking from which he again 



ARRIVAL AT COUNCIL BLUFFS. 419 

felt somewhat refreshed, and endeavored to rise to his feet, 
but found himself unable to do so. At this time he was 
near the summit of a hill, and he thought if he could reach 
the crest he might perhaps be able to discover something 
that would afford him relief Accordingly, he put forth all 
his remaining powers, and, with the utmost difficulty, suc- 
ceeded in crawling upon his hands and knees to the sum- 
mit of the elevation, which proved to be a bluff" bordering 
the Missouri Valley ; and who can conceive of his joy and 
astoiiitihment when, on raising his eyes, he beheld, directly 
in front of him, and only about half a mile distant, the flag 
waving from the fort at Council Bluffs? His feelings on 
beholding this welcome haven may be more easily imag- 
ined than described. He was like a man who has been 
brought from death unto life ; and the consciousness of his 
safety, after the horrible state of mental anxiety and torture 
to which he had been subjected for weeks, overwhelmed 
him with the most intense and heartfelt emotions of joy 
and gratitude. He prostrated himself upon the earth, and 
gave vent to his feelings by weeping for a long time, and 
then offered up sincere thanks to the Almighty for his de- 
liverance. 

In the course of a few hours he was enabled to crawl to- 
-ward the fort, where he was kindly received by the officers, 
and nursed for several weeks before he was sufficiently re- 
stored to resume his homeward journey. 

After all the scenes of danger, privation, and suffering 
through which Mr. Clyburn had passed, he was delighted 
to revisit once more the home of his childhood, and he con- 
fidently anticipated that the remainder of his days would 
pass in peace and quietness ; but in this he was greatly mis- 
taken, as the following narrative will show. 

He had, in 1834, taken up his abode among the first set- 
tlers at Milwaukee ; but the population soon increased to 



420 POTAWATOMIES. 

sucli an extent that the place became too crowded to suit 
him, and he was desirous of purchasing a farm in the beau- 
tiful valley of Kock Kiver; and, as the government was 
about bringing those lands into market, he, with a friend, 
set out upon an expedition to explore that region, and make 
selections of lands. They engaged a man to transport their 
luggage to the bank of Eock Eiver, where they cut down 
a tree and constructed a " dug-out'^ (canoe), in which they 
embarked, and started on their voyage down the river. 

As night approached they arrived at an old Kickapoo 
village, which was then abandoned. It was raining at the 
time, and as the bark lodges offered good shelter, they de- 
termined to take up lodgings for the night in one of them. 
Accordingly they made a landing, and commenced carry- 
ing their baggage ashore, and the transfer was nearly com- 
pleted, when, as Clyburn went into the lodge, and was in the 
act of striking a light, he heard his companion give the 
Indian salutation of " boo-joo'^ to some person outside. On 
going out he met two Indians, an old and a young man. 
They shook hands with him, apparently in a friendly man- 
ner, and informed him that they were Potawatomies. Rem- 
nants of this tribe, as well as of the Kickapoos, Chippeways, 
and Winnebagoes, then ranged over that section of country, 
but they were supposed to be perfectly peaceable and well- 
disposed toward the whites. 

As soon as he had passed a few words with the Indians, 
Clyburn told his friend to kindle a fire in the lodge, while 
he would go out and collect some wood for the night. He 
went out, picked up an armful of wood, and was returning, 
when suddenly he heard a rifle-shot in the lodge, and, at 
the same moment, a cry of distress from his companion, 
and instantly afterward the two Indians bounded out of 
the lodge and fired a shot at him, which broke his arm. 
He dropped the wood and ran at the top of his speed into 



FIRST COURT AT MILWAUKEE. 421 

the woods, ■with the Indians after him in eager pursuit. 
Fortunately for him, it was now night, and, under cover of 
the darkness, he was enabled to elude the search of his sav- 
age pursuers. He concealed himself under a log, and heard 
them prowling about near him for some time ; but they 
finally gave up the search and went away. He then, with 
great difficulty, managed to bind up his shattered arm with 
his handkerchief, and started back toward Milwaukee. It 
was raining very hard during all'the night (I remember it 
well, as I myself bivouacked m the woods near Sheboygan 
on the same night), and Mr. Clyburn soon became exhaust- 
ed from the loss of blood, and very wet and cold. He at- 
tempted to strike a fire, but, in consequence of his broken 
arm, was unable to hold the flint and punk. He continued 
on, however, and the next day (I think it was) had the sat- 
isfaction of reaching his home at Milwaukee. 

A note was immediately dispatched to Fort Dearborn, 
Chicago, the nearest military post, and an officer, Captain 
Baxley, with a suitable force, was sent out to apprehend 
the perpetrators of the deed. They found the body of the 
murdered man, and arrested several Indians whom they 
discovered near the locality. These were taken to Fort 
Howard, Green Bay, where I was then stationed, and placed 
in close confinement until they could be confronted by Mr. 
Clyburn, who was laid up for several weeks with his wound, 
and had just recovered sufficiently to travel when I met 
him at Sheboygan. Although he had only seen the two In- 
dians concerned in the murder for a moment, yet, on his ar- 
rival at Fort Howard, he recognized them again instantly 
among a dozen others. 

The Indians then acknowledged themselves to have been 
the guilty parties, and were tried for murder before the 
first court ever held at Milwaukee. They were convicted, 

the old man sentenced to be hung, and his son to imprison- 

2N 



422 INDIAN LAW. 

merit for life. I was myself a witness upon the trial, hav- 
ing heard the confession of the Indians at Green Bay. 

The sentences of these Indians, owing, I believe, to some 
flaw in the proceedings, were not executed. The stoical 
imperturbability of the savage character was strikingly 
illustrated when they received the information of the re- 
sult. 

The sheriff called the old man out of his cell and asked 
him if he was aware that the day appointed for his execu- 
tion had arrived. He, without changing the expression of 
his countenance in the least, replied that he did not think" 
the time was so near at hand, but that he was ready, and, 
shaking hands with us, bade us good-by. The sheriff then 
told him that he was not to be executed, and was free to go 
where he pleased, all of which he received with apparently 
perfect indifference. 

The reason assigned by these Indians for committing the 
murder was that a relative of the old man's wife had been 
killed by a sentinel at Fort Winnebago, and she, with the 
instincts of her race, gave the old man no peace until he 
had assuaged her thirst for revenge with the blood of a 
white man. One of the peculiar characteristics of the In- 
dians is that they never make allowances for accidents. If 
a man, for example, by the accidental discharge of a gun, 
happens to kill one of their people, they hold him just as 
much responsible for the result as if he committed a will- 
ful act of murder. Their legal code makes no distinction 
between justifiable homicide and murder in the first degree. 

While I was at Green Bay, a Frenchman, who was hunt- 
ing deer in the night with a torch-light, seeing before his 
canoe two eyes glistening like those of a deer, immediately 
raised his rifle and fired. He was, however, horrified, on 
approaching the object, to find that, instead of a deer, he had 
shot an Indian directly through the brain. He recognized 



FIRE - HUNTING. 423 

the man, and, taking the body in his canoe, carried it to the 
lodge of his brother, to whom he related all the circum- 
stances, expressing great regret at what had happened. 
The Indian, instead of pardoning him, seized his rifle, and 
killed the Frenchman upon the spot. 



424 COON STORY. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

CAPTAIN MARTIN SCOTT. 

Captain Martin Scott. — The Coon Story. — The Bear-hunter. — The Horse- 
race. — Courting Days. — Rifle and Pistol Shooting. — His Duel. — Expedi- 
tion with Explorers. — Hunting in Texas. — Wonderful Dog. — "Tally 
Ho !" — Return Home to Bennington. — His Death. 

When I first joined my regiment (the 5th United States 
Infantry) at Fort Howard, Green Bay, in the spring of 1833, 
I was assigned to " D" Company, then commanded by Cap- 
tain Martin Scott, of coon notoriety. 

The coon story has been so often related that it is prob- 

•ably familiar to many ; but as some may not have heard it, 

and as I shall have a good deal to say about Captain Scott, 

whose peculiar reputation it aptly illustrates, it may not be 

amiss to give a brief repetition of it here. 

The story, as I understand, first appeared in a newspaper 
published in Utica, New York, in 1840, and the purport of 
it was something like the following: Captain Scott, with 
several friends, were supposed to have been hunting in the 
woods, and had become separated. As they were passing 
along, one of them discovered a raccoon sitting upon the 
highest limb of one of the tallest trees, and fired at him, 
but missed the object and went on. Soon another of the 
party made his appearance and delivered a shot, but with 
the same result ; and after this, several others took shots at 
him, but all were equally unsuccessful ; the coon was not 
harmed. After a while, however. Captain Scott passed that 



YOUNG BEAR-HUNTER. 425 

way, and, seeing the raccoon, drew up his rifle, and was in 
the act of pulling trigger, when the coon said to him, " Who 
are you?" He replied, "My name is Scott." "What 
Scott?" inquired the coon. "Why, Captain Scott." "Are 
you Captain Martin Scott?" said the coon. "The same," 
was the answer. "Then," said the coon, "you need not 
shoot ; I'll come down." 

This officer had served for many years at our most re- 
mote frontier posts, and he had always borne the reputa- 
tion of having been the best shot of his day. His ambition 
consisted in owning the best horses, dogs, and guns, and he 
was a thorough sportsman and hunter, besides being a faith- 
ful and gallant soldier. 

At an early day, when he was a boy only twelve years 
of age, living at his home in Bennington,Vermont, a bear 
made his appearance in that neighborhood, committing 
great havoc among the farmers' sheep, and creating much 
alarm among the timid inhabitants of the surrounding 
country. 

So great was the excitement produced by the advent of 
this savage intruder that the people of several towns turned 
out in mass to hunt him down. They organized into par- 
ties to scour all the adjacent mountains and woodlands on 
a certain day, and were to assemble at the hotel in Ben- 
nington after the day's hunt was over. 

Now our young hero felt an earnest desire to participate 
in this exciting sport, but he was perfectly well aware that 
his father would not give his consent to such a proposal if 
it was suggested to him. He therefore very quietly got 
up before daylight on the appointed day, took an old 
smooth-bored gun of his father's, loaded it, and started out 
alone into the mountain where the bear was last heard 
from. He wandered about nearly all day, but without dis- 
covering any signs of the animal, and at length turned to- 

2N* 



•i26 BEAR KILLED. 

"ward home; and, as he was descending the mountain, he 
came to a shelving rock, and was just in the act of passing 
over it, when suddenly he came upon the bear lying appar- 
ently asleep just beneath where he stood. He at once 
raised the gun to his shoulder and fired, and he fortunately 
lodged its contents in the vitals of the beast, killing him in- 
stantly. He then started for the tavern, where many of 
the hunters had already congregated, and were relating to 
each other the history of the day's experience. He told 
them that he had killed the bear, but they did not believe 
it possible, and it was with great difficulty that he finally 
persuaded some of the men to go with him to verifj' his 
statement. When they reached the place where the ani- 
mal lay, they were amazed that so small a lad should have 
had the temerity to attack such a monster. He was a huge 
fellow, and they were obliged to construct a stout litter to 
carry him into town. AVhen they arrived at the entrance 
of the village they mounted Martin upon the top of the 
bear, and thus carried him in triumph through the street; 
and on passing his father's house, the old gentleman came 
out, and, in a very abrupt manner, said, " Come down from 
there; what are you doing up there, sir?" The men re- 
plied, "Let the boy alone, for he has killed the bear;" and 
thus they went on to the tavern, where they celebrated the 
event with great feasting and rejoicing. After this they 
dubbed Martin the Bear-hunter, and he has often said to me 
that this was the happiest day of his life. 

Like other boys, young Scott was very fond of visiting 
places of amusement, such as horse-races, trainings, town 
meetings, etc., and, as he was a good rider, he was some- 
times selected to ride races by the sporting fraternity of 
that section. 

In those days (before the time of horse-fairs) horse-racing 
was looked upon by the New Englanders as a most im- 



DEACON ROBINSON. 427 

moral and pernicious practice, and young Scott was never 
allowed to make his appearance at such places with his fa- 
ther's consent. 

Upon one occasion, an unknown horse was brought to 
Bennington by some sportsmen, who offered large wagers 
upon his running against any other horse that could be 

produced. Now a certain Deacon R , of that place, 

was the owner of several fine horses, and among them was 
one that was considered very fleet, but those disposed to 
contest the wager so confidently offered on the strange 
horse were perfectly well aware that a Presbyterian deacon 
could not openly sanction and give countenance to such 
diabolical immorality ; yet those who knew him well verily 
believed if there was any one trait in the deacon's character 
that was not in strict accordance with the requirements of 
his church and with the sanctity of his ecclesiastical func- 
tions, it was the weakness he manifested for owning the 
fleetest horse in the country. 

The men proposing to take up the gauntlet so defiantly 
thrown out by the backers of the new horse entered the 
deacon's favorite horse for the race, but with the express 
stipulation that the race should come off in the night-time, 
and should be kept a profound secret except to those di- 
rectly interested. The terms having been satisfactorily 
arranged, Martin Scott was selected as the jockey for the 
deacon's horse ; and on the night designated for the con- 
test, he stole very quietly into the stable, and, muflling the 
horse's feet, led him out and took him to the race-track. 
The judges were then posted, the riders mounted, and the 
horses were off. It was a single straight dash of a mile, 
and both horses were put to their speed, and kept constant- 
ly down to their work from the word " go." But, as they 
approached the "coming-out" place, the strange horse be- 
gan to gain a little upon his antagonist, and at this moment 



428 COURTSHIP. 

of interest and. excitement to all parties concerned, it looked 
as if the deacon's horse was to be beaten, when suddenly 
from behind a board fence near the track jumped u^. Dea- 
con E himself, who in a very loud and excited 

manner screamed out, " Put the whip to him, Martin ! put 
the whip to him, I tell you!" Martin was perfectly as- 
tounded and almost paralyzed at this unexpected appari- 
tion, but, with nervous desperation, he made several vigor- 
ous and well-timed applications of his whip, which caused 
the horse to redouble his efforts and win the race by half a 
length, at which the deacon, in the excitement of the mo- 
ment, took off his hat and gave a lusty cheer ; but, instant- 
ly afterward recollecting himself, and considering the ludi- 
crous role he had been enacting in this somewhat farcical 
performance, he assumed an indignant air, and approach- 
ing Martin, who was holding the horse in great trepidation, 
said, "Martin Scott, you young reprobate, you have stolen 
my horse, sir, and, unless you instantly lead him back to 
the stable, and give him a good rubbing down, I'll report 
you to your father, sir!" 

When young Scott arrived at the age of sixteen he fell 
in love with a young lady in a neighboring village, and re- 
ceived her permission to pay his addresses ; but his father's 
opinions upon the subject, being somewhat austere and dic- 
tatorial, did not accord with his own, and compelled him to 
conduct his courtship in a clandestine manner. He was in 
the habit of waiting until his father went to bed, when he 
would take a horse from the stable, pay a visit to his lady- 
love, and return home before daylight. After one of these 
weekly visits, he had just put his horse into the stable, and 
had made some little noise in doing so, which awakened his 
father, who ran out toward the stable, thinking that some 
person was attempting to steal his horse. Martin saw him 
approaching, and, unable to elude his observation, ran into 



APPOINTED ENSIGN. 429 

a corn-house near by and ascended a ladder into the loft, 
with the old man close upon his heels. 

It was dark at the time, and he hid himself in one corner 
of the loft ; but his father groped around until he was sat- 
isfied that the next instant he would be in his grasp, and 
he saw but one method of escaping detection, which he in- 
stantly resorted to. He leaped upon the poor old man, and 
gave him a blow which knocked him down, and thus se- 
cured an opportunity to make his escape to the house. 

The old man soon recovered himself, however, and called 
out, " Martin ! Martin ! come here quick ; there are robbers 
about, and one of them has knocked me down." Martin 
turned, and, running back to the corn-house, aided his fa- 
ther for a considerable time in searching for the supposed 
robber. 

As he was plowing in the field one day during the year 
1814, the postmaster of the village brought him a letter 
marked " War Department, Adjutant General's Office," and 
directed to Ensign Martin Scott, on opening which he 
found a commission for himself as ensign in the United 
States Army. He had made no application for the appoint- 
ment, and its being conferred upon him was a mystery 
which was never solved to the day of his death. He ac- 
cepted his appointment, and forthwith joined his company 
at Sackett's Harbor. 

He was shortly afterward sent to the Western frontier, 
where he found ample scope for the development of his 
proclivities as a sportsman. 

His reputation for accurate rifle and pistol shooting was 
well deserved, and I am not aware that he was ever ex- 
celled, if, indeed, he was ever equaled by any of his con- 
temporaries. 

One of his performances with the pistol, which I have 
often heard vouched for by officers who had witnessed it. 



\ 



430 TARGET PRACTICE. 

and which appears to me to require more skill in the use 
of the arm than any other feat I have heard of, was in tak- 
ing two potatoes, throwing them into the air successively, 
and putting a pistol ball through both of them as they 
crossed, one going up and the other coming down. 

Some of his performances in rifle-shooting I have wit- 
nessed myself, and for great accuracy I must acknowledge 
that they exceed any thing of the kind I have ever before 
seen. One of the many instances where I have been pres- 
ent at his shooting will, I presume, suf&ce to illustrate this. 

He proposed to me, upon one occasion, that we should 
take an old-fashioned United States yager that he had, and 
determine which could load and fire three shots in the 
shortest space of time, and make the best target. Accord- 
ingly, a playing-card, with a spot or bull's-eye in the cen- 
tre about the size of a dime, was attached to a log of wood, 
and placed at seventy-five yards from where we proposed 
to stand. Captain Scott then took the rifle uncharged, with 
the powder-flask at hand, and the balls and patches in his 
mouth, and he made the three shots " off-hand" in one min- 
ute and twenty seconds. I then myself went to the target, 
and found one round hole directly through the centre of 
the bull's-eye. I was surprised at the precision of the shot, 
but observed to the captain that the other two had entirely 
missed the target. He shook his head and called for an 
axe, when we split the log, and found the three balls in one 
mass, all having passed through the same round aperture 
directly in the centre of the card. 

The captain was also a very excellent marksman with a 
bird-gun, and, although I have seen him fire numerous 
shots, I do not remember ever to have known him to miss 
his bird. 

At a very early day, but a few years after the close of 
the war in 1814, he was attached to the expedition under 



EARLY HABITS OF THE OFFICERS. 431 

the command of General Atkinson, -which ascended the 
Missouri Eiver and established a military post at Council 
Bluffs, which at that time was very far beyond the remotest 
border settlements. The war had not improved the morals 
of the army, and its effects were still seen among the offi- 
cers, many of whom were addicted to cards and liquor, and 
a man who did not participate in these dissipated pastimes 
was considered as wanting in that spirit of social congeni- 
ality which, according to their code, was indispensable to 
an officer. 

Captain Scott had never in his life drank a glass of ar- 
dent spirits, played a game of cards, or used tobacco in any 
form. He was liberal in his intercourse with his brother 
officers, but was exceedingly parsimonious in his own per- 
sonal expenses, and took good care of his money. This 
was not in accord with the views of the officers around him, 
and they soon gave vent to their feelings by petty slights 
and annoyances, and by a gradual withdrawal from his so- 
ciety. This finally culminated by all the officers, with three 
exceptions, putting him in Coventry. He submitted to their 
unjust persecution and insults as long as possible, but at 
length it came to such a pass that he could endure it no 
longer, and he took counsel with his three friends as to the 
course he should pursue. They were unanimous in the opin- 
ion that there were but two alternatives left to him : one 
was to throw up his commission and leave the service at 
once, and the other was to challenge the first man who should 
insult him. He determined to adopt the latter course. 

The officers were soon apprised of what had been decided 
upon, and as Captain Scott was a much better pistol-shot 
than any of them, they did not feel disposed to risk an en- 
counter against such odds. 

One of their friends, however, who was then stationed at 
another post, was a celebrated shot, and had brought down 



432 CURING THE CONSUMPTION. 

his antagonist in several duels. They dispatched a messen- 
ger for him, and, on his arrival, he took the first opportuni- 
ty to insult Captain Scott at the mess-table, and a challenge 
immediately ensued. The preliminaries were arranged in 
due form, and the parties came upon the ground. In giv- 
ing me the history of this affair, Captain Scott said that he 
had always opposed dueling from principle, and he would 
not have believed that he could, under any circumstances, 
have been drawn into one, but here he was ; and he ac- 
knowledged that he was very considerably agitated, and 
had determined to throw away his shot by firing into the 
air, when he heard his antagonist remark that he had a 
very disagreeable job on hand that morning, which was to 
shoot a d — d Yankee. This, he said, roused his indigna- 
tion to the highest pitch, and made him perfectly cool and 
collected, and he firmly resolved to punish his adversary. 

They took their positions and fired: Captain Scott re- 
ceived a slight flesh-wound, but his adversary fell to the 
ground, shot through the lungs. He was carried to the 
hospital, and ultimately recovered. It is mentioned as a 
curious circumstance that previous to this duel he had the 
consumption, but the wound he received is supposed to 
have effected a cure of that disease, and he lived for many 
years afterward. 

At the next meeting of the officers at the mess-table. 
Captain Scott took occasion to inform them that he should 
in future hold them personally responsible for any and 
every insult offered to him. They did not seem disposed 
to contest the matter any farther, and he was soon restored 
to his proper social position. 

The invincible determination of purpose and stubborn 
perseverance with which he contended against obstacles 
are strikingly shown in the following narrative, which I 
received from his own lips. 



EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 433 

Somewhere about the year 1825 (I am not certain about 
the precise date), the Scientific Exploring Expedition, con- 
ducted by the naturalist Say, was organized by the govern- 
ment, and Captain Scott, then stationed at Fort Snelling, 
was selected by the Secretary of War to command the es- 
cort. It so happened that he wa* not a favorite with his 
commanding officer, who determined that another officer 
should be assigned to this desirable duty. Accordingly, 
on the arrival of the scientific gentlemen at the fort, he in- 
formed them that he could not furnish their escort from his 
weak command, but that he would send Captain Scott to 
Prairie du Chien for the necessary force, the distance be- 
tween the two places by river being something like three 
hundred miles, and the only means of transit at that early 
day by Mackinaw boats. With these the captain started, 
and, as he had favorable winds, he made a rapid trip, se- 
cured his men, and returned to Fort Snelling in an almost 
unprecedentedly brief period ; but what was his antonish- 
ment, on his arrival, to find that the expedition had set out 
immediately after his departure with an escort from the 
garrison of Fort Snelling, commanded by another officer. 
The expedition had been off about two weeks, and was 
then probably some two hundred and eighty miles on its 
way to Pembina. This, however, did not discourage Scott, 
and he demanded from the commanding officer the priv- 
ilege of following and overtaking the party. This could 
not consistently be refused him, but at the same time he 
was only allowed an escort of four men, with one old horse, 
that was never known to go over about twenty miles with- 
out breaking down, to transport his supplies. With this 
outfit he started. As he had anticipated, the horse gave out 
and was abandoned the first day out. They were obliged 
to pack their luggage upon their backs, and in this manner 
continued on rapidly day after day, until at length their 

20 



4:34 BOTANY BAY. 

provisions were all exhausted excepting a few biscuits, 
which .were divided equally. No game was seen for sev- 
eral days, and their only subsistence for a considerable 
time was confined to one biscuit per man daily. Even 
these were finally consumed, and for two days they had 
nothing. They wore out their shoes, and became so lame 
that it was with difficulty they could walk. The captain 
saw that, under such circumstances, his prospects for over- 
taking the main party were small. He therefore ordered 
all his escort to turn back to the fort, and alone pushed for- 
ward again. After a few days' rapid and toilsome march- 
ing, he overtook the party near Pembina, assumed command 
of the escort, and retained it throughout the remainder of 
the expedition. 

For several years after the establishment of the post of 
Fort Snelling, all the lumber was procured by the labor of 
the troops, and it had been the practice every year to seiid 
an officer with a detachment of men to Rum Eiver, where 
they passed the entire winter in cutting "saw-logs," and 
rafted them down to the falls in the spring. This service 
was any thing but agreeable to the officers, and Rum River 
was designated by them as " Botany Bay ;" and some of 
them even had the temerity to whisper it about that, by a 
most astonishing coincidence, whenever an officer incurred 
the displeasure of the commanding officer, it invariably be- 
came his next detail for service at "Botany Bay." How- 
ever this may have been, it is quite certain that Captain 
Scott passed the following winter at Rum River. 

Although Captain Scott possessed his firmness of nerve 
and accuracy of sight up to the day of his death, yet his 
qualities as a hunter were seriously impaired by age. 

During the winter of 1845-6, while Greneral Taylor's 
army occupied Corpus Christi, Colonel Garland, Captains 
Scott, McCall, and myself, went about a hundred miles up 



SUCCESSFUL HUNT. 435 

the Nueces upon a hunting expedition. Our hunt, after we 
reached the ground, lasted four days, and the result was 
we bagged twenty-seven deer, seventy-three wild turkeys, 
four tiger-cats, besides quite a number of geese and ducks, 
and of these Captain McCall and myself killed the greater 
part. Captain Scott only killed one deer and a few turkeys. 

I soon perceived that he considered his reputation as 
somewhat damaged by these disparaging results, and, as we 
were returning to Corpus Christi, he remarked to me that 
it might be just as well not to mention to the officers at 
camp which one of us bagged the greatest amount of game, . 
"as this would not probably please the other two gentlemen. 
I replied that it would be exceedingly unbecoming in me 
to boast of my own exploits, therefore I should, of course, 
say nothing upon the subject. 

On our arrival at the encampment with the extraordinary 
quantity of game, the officers collected around us, and mani- 
fested a great desire to ascertain which of the four had ex- 
celled in the hunt. I made an evasive a,nswer, stating that 
we had not been particular about keeping accurate count, 
but that there was not probably much difference. The 
question was then put to Captain Scott, who, after my gen- 
erous reply, thought he must say something magnanimous 
in return, and he answered that he was not altogether cer- 
tain as to which had bagged the most game, but of one thing 
he was quite sure, and that was that he had seen a great 
many deer-hunters in his day, but that he had never met 
with one who could crarvl, and sneaky and squirm up to a 
deer like Marcy. I appreciated the motive which dictated 
the remark fully, but, at the same time, I regarded the in- 
tended compliment as somewhat equivocal in its import. 

The captain was not upon all other occasions as magnani- 
mous as he might have been toward those who attempted 
to come in competition with him as marksmen or hunters. 



436 TARGET-SHOOTING. 

While at Green Bay in 1833, I bad procured a rifled pis- 
tol, which description of arm had only beer^ in use a short 
time then, and Captain Scott, having never before seen one, 
was incredulous in regard to my assertions as to its per- 
formances. The barrel of this pistol was about twelve 
inches in length, and would throw a ball fifty yards with 
as much accuracy as a rifle. Scott did not believe it, how- 
ever, and often bantered me to give a specimen of its pow- 
ers ; but, not feeling disposed to subject myself to the ridi- 
cule of this celebrated sportsman by incurring the risk of 
making a possible failure in the presence of spectators, I de- 
clined, until one day he proposed that we should go out 
alone and try it, to which proposition I assented. In order 
fully to appreciate the sequel of our target excursion, it 
must be remembered that the captain was exceedingly eco- 
nomical, and estimated a dollar at its full value. He had 
that morning treated himself to a new and high-priced pock- 
et-knife, with which he cut out a piece of paper about four 
inches square, and fastened it to a board by sticking his 
knife directly through the centre of it. I made a shot 
standing fifty yards distant, and struck the lower part of 
the paper. He expressed some astonishment at the preci- 
sion of the shot, but gave it as his opinion that it was acci- 
dental, and doubted if it could be done again. I assured 
him that it was by no means the result of chance, and that, 
in all probability, I should make a better shot the next 
time ; indeed, I added that he must not be surprised if I 
struck his new pen-knife (only the end of the handle was 
exposed). He replied, "Never mind the knife; don't let 
that give you the slightest uneasiness, sir; go ahead and 
make your shot ; I'll be responsible for the knife." Where- 
upon I raised the pistol and fired ^gain, and at the same in- 
stant the paper fell to the ground. Upon examination, we 
discovered that the ball had hit the knife in the end of the 



WONDERFUL DOG. 437 

handle, and split it into at least a dozen pieces. Scott made 
no comments, but, looking daggers at me, abruptly turned 
and walked off to bis quarters, and it was some days before 
he received me into favor again. 

Captain Scott was at one time, while stationed at Prairie 
du Chien, in possession of a wonderfully sagacious dog, a 
cross of the setter and pointer. I never saw the animal 
myself, but several of the officers of my regiment had fre- 
quently witnessed bis astonishing performances, and those 
of them wbo are now living will doubtless voucb for the 
truth of what I relate. 

The captain would, for example, while sitting in his quar- 
ters at the fort, with the dog at bis feet, say to bim, "Mark, 
I want you to go over to the island and ascertain if there 
are any woodcock there, and come back and tell me." The 
dog would instantly go to the river, swim to the island, 
and, after having bunted it over, return, and, if he had found 
birds, run up to his master, then to the gun, wag his tail, 
and make other demonstrations of jo}^, whicb made it per- 
fectly apparent that he bad been successful. Scott would 
then tell the dog to get the canoe in readiness, and, strange 
as it may appear, he would take the cushion in bis mouth, 
carry it to the river bank where the canoe was moored, 
place it upon tbe seat, return for tbe paddle, carry that to 
the canoe, then go back to Scott, and look up in bis face 
witb an expression whicb indicated that all was ready. 

The captain bad at the same time another dog, whicb be 
called Turk. These dogs, from their first acquaintance, 
had never been on friendly terms, and they had many se- 
verely contested encounters, whicb finally resulted in Turk's 
gaining and retaining tbe mastery. Mark was emphatically 
a vanquished dog, and, by his meek and submissive demean- 
or in tbe presence of his adversary, he admitted as much. 

Upon one occasion Turk had gained possession of a 

2 0* 



438 STRATEGY. 

honne houche in the form of a beef's bone, which he was 
quietly enjoying by himself upon the parade-ground, when 
Mark chanced to pass that way, and scented the choice mor- 
sel. The longing, anxious look which he cast toward the 
bone, as he circled around at a respectable distance, told 
how desirous he was to participate in the feast ; but his ex- 
perience had taught him that an attempt to contend with 
his powerful adversary would only result in his own dis- 
comfiture. He therefore prudently resolved to resort to 
strategy in order to accomplish his ends. Accordingly, he 
ran furiously outside the stockade inclosure and set up a 
tremendous barking, as if something very extraordinary 
had occurred ; upon which, as usual, all the dogs in the fort 
hurried out of the gates to see what was the matter, and 
among them was Turk, who, in the excitement of the mo- 
ment, abandoned his bone. As soon as this was done, Mark 
very quietly slipped back, seized the prize, and carried it to 
a hiding-place where he could enjoy it at his leisure. 

Mark was by no means a dog of regular habits, and would 
often steal away from home and pass the night among his 
canine companions of the opposite sex. For this he was 
invariably punished, his master compelling him to stand 
upon his hind feet, with his fore paws resting against the 
wall, while the castigation was administered with a cow- 
hide. In one instance, after having absented himself all 
night, he returned home with a most dejected and penitent 
air, and, seeing his master looking very angry at him, he 
immediately went to the wall, placed himself in the posi- 
tion he had been required to assume when he received his 
previous punishments, and at the same time turned his 
head around and looked at Scott, as much as to say "I am 
ready." 

In the course of time Mark waxed in years, and was no 
longer able to endure the work required in hunting, and 



HUNTING NOMENCLATURE. 439 

Captain Scott took him home to Bennington to pass the re- 
mainder of his days in quiet retirement, and here he con- 
tinued to make himself useful even in his dotage bj going 
to the pasture every night and driving home the cows. It 
certainly appeared as if this animal was endowed with 
something beyond mere brute instinct, as he seemed to 
comprehend the relations existing between cause and ef- 
fect 

Captain Scott was so very fond of his dogs, that I have 
known him, upon the death of a favorite one, to walk his 
room in great apparent distress of mind during the entire 
night, and afterward place the body in a coffin, and, with 
his boy Jack leading his hunting-horse draped in black, fol- 
low it to the grave, and bury it with as much care and cer- 
emony as if it had been a child. 

He generally kept a pack of hounds, and would occa- 
sionally take out his friends to participate in a deer or fox 
drive ; but, upon these occasions, he invariably insisted that 
every one should conform strictly with the most approved 
rules of the chase. He was himself thoroughly posted in 
all the technicalities of sporting lore, and he lost all respect 
for those persons who misapplied or ridiculed the proper 
use of sporting nomenclature. Thus he never failed to cor- 
rect a man who called a line of geese ^^ a flock of geese^'' a 
bevy of quails "a hrood of quails ^^'' a herd of elk "a gang 
of elk,^^ etc. He was an uncompromising stickler for the 
correct and literal application of sporting language upon all 
occasions, but more especially when in the field. 

This peculiarity of his was forcibly illustrated while our 
army was lying at Corpus Christi in 1846. He proposed 
that we should take his hounds and go out into a place 
called the Eihcon, where the large jackass rabbits were 
abundant, and have a drive. Quite ^number of officers 
joined the party, and we started out under the guidance of 



440 TALLY HO. 

Captain Scott, who was the acknowledged master of the 
hunt. 

On arriving upon the ground near where the game was 
supposed to be, the captain stationed the gentlemen around 
upon the skirts of an extensive chaparral thicket, and pre- 
pared to send in the dogs to drive out the rabbits. He gave 
his last instructions, and specially enjoined upon every one, 
on the instant a rabbit should make its appearance, to give 
the view halloo oi^^ Tally ho^ ISTow it so happened that 
among the ofiicers engaged in the hunt was Captain F, 

B n, who was distinguished for his propensities as a 

practical joker, and never was known to let an opportunity 
escape for indulging in his favorite amusement. 

The hounds were unleashed and taken into the chapar- 
ral, and in a very few minutes they gave tongue most vo- 
ciferously. All were waiting upon their posts with eager 
anxiety to catch the first glimpse of the game as it emerged 
from the brush, when suddenly, near the position of Captain 

B n, bounded out a mule, with some twenty dogs in full 

cry at her heels. At this instant of excitement we heard a 

prolonged cry from the stentorian lungs of Captain B n 

of " Sally lohoa ! Sally luhoa! Sally wlioaP^ 

The appearance of the terrified mule, and the ludicrous 
metamorphose of Captain Scott's "view halloo," turned the 
whole thing into a farce, which brought forth irresistible 
peals of laughter from every one in the party excepting 
Captain Scott. He did not smile ; on the contrary, his face 
flushed, and assumed a most indignant expression. He 

called off his dogs, and, looking daggers at Captain B n, 

went back to camp. Immediately after this he sent a chal- 
lenge to Captain B n, and it was with great difficulty 

that their friends could adjust the matter to his satisfaction 
without an exchangi^ of shots. 

With the exception of the money he expended in horses, 



RETURN HOME. 441 

dogs, and guns, which were always of the very best descrip- 
tion, Captain Scott, as I remarked before, was very econom- 
ical in his own personal expenses; he, however, did a great 
deal toward supporting several members of his family who 
were not very well to do in the world, and contributed 
liberally toward this worthy object during his whole life. 
Upon one occasion, after he had been absent in the Far 
West for quite a number of years, and had accumulated a 
considerable sum of money, he obtained a furlough for the 
purpose of revisiting his friends in Bennington. He had 
left there a poor farmer's boy, and he resolved to make a 
respectable appearance on his return. He owned two of 
the finest horses that I have ever seen, and a negro boy 
for whom he paid five dollars a pound, and whom he sub- 
sequently set free. 

Captain Scott was seated in a beautiful new gig, drawn 
by his magnificent white horse, followed by Jach dressed 
in livery as an outrider, and mounted npon his thorough- 
bred horse Dandy, and the rear of the cortege was brought 
up by some twenty full-blooded dogs of various breeds and 
descriptions. In this order he drove through the quiet 
streets of Bennington and halted at the village inn, where 
a great crowd of inquisitive citizens were^oon assembled, 
all manifesting the keenest anxiety to learn the name of 
this distinguished stranger. No one, however, recognized 
him as he entered the house and took his seat by the win- 
dow. He did not remain long before he saw his brother 
passing with a yoke of oxen,, whereupon he went out and 
accosted him, saying, " You have a very fine pair of oxen 
there, sir; do they belong to you ?" His brother, not recog- 
nizing him, answered that they were very good cattle, but 
belonged to one of his neighbors, and that he was not able 
to purchase, them. 

The captain then inquired what they could be had for. 



z.^ 



442 HAPPY REUNION. 

and when his brother mentioned the sum, he took out his 
purse, handed him the amount, telling him that he liked 
his appearance so much that he would make him a present 
of the oxen.' This most extraordinary liberality astonished 
his brother, who could hardly believe it possible that a man 
should show such munificence to a stranger. He, however, 
took the money, and expressed his profound gratitude to 
his benefactor. 

The captain then asked him where he lived, and remark- 
ed that he would, if he had no objections, like to make him 
a call, to which his brother replied that he rented a small 
farm near by, and that it was only by the most rigid econ- 
omy and industry that he could manage to support his 
family and pay his rents, but that, of course, he would be 
glad to receive a visit from one who had shown such gen- 
erosity to him. He then inquired of his brother what price 
the owner put upon the farm, adding that he believed he 
should like to present him with that also. His brother 
now looked attentively at him, and for the first time rec- 
ognized him. They went home together, both exceedingly 
happy. 

As those persons who are not familiar with the history 
of Captain Scott may have some desire to know what be- 
came of him, I will add, for their information, that he was 
killed while gallantly leading forward his command in that 
most sanguinary battle of the Mexican war, " Molino del 
Key." 

Although, like the most of us, he had his faults, yet, upon 
the whole. Captain Martin Scott was a pleasant companion, 
an honorable man, a kind brother, and a gallant soldier. I 
most sincerely respect his memory, and with all my heart 
say, " Peace be to his ashes." 

THE END. 



A>. 



